Sean Strickland’s approach in his recent loss to Alex Pereira at UFC 276 this past weekend has been highly questioned since fight night.
Heading into the likely No. 1 contender bout in the middleweight division, the strategy for Strickland — and any Pereira opponent — seems obvious; try and take him down. A kickboxing world champion at the highest level, Pereira, 35, has been flawless throughout his young MMA career winning six straight since his lone loss that came in his professional debut.
This fresh result has gained the brash and outspoken Strickland plenty of criticism, but three-time UFC title challenger, Chael Sonnen, doesn’t feel it’s necessarily fair with all things considered.
“Should we give Sean Strickland a pass?” Sonnen asked on his YouTube channel. “You know I’m giving him one, right? You know what a believer I am in Sean Strickland. I feel terrible for him, I really do.
“Sean did not do the one thing I needed him to do to make my prediction true that Sean Strickland can deal with this guy, including in the striking. Sean Strickland can go out and kickbox with this guy. Sean Strickland can beat this guy. Sean Strickland can be the No. 1 contender. For those things to be true I only need one thing, I need the threat of a takedown. I need for Sean to not come out and make it clear we have an unwritten agreement, and the agreement is we’re gonna stand here and we’re gonna trade punches and kicks. I need the threat of a takedown.”
As the fight began, Strickland walked the Brazilian down as he attempts to do with most opponents. Finding some success early on, Pereira utilized his range and volume before ultimately sealing the deal mid-way through round one with a pinpoint left hook and some follow-up punches, snapping the six-fight streak of “Tarzan’s.”
Strickland arguably stole the whole fight week building up to UFC 276, claimed Sonnen. At the pre-fight press conference, a lot of the shine and buzz generated came from the back-and-forth the New Bern, N.C. native had with the current champion, Israel Adesanya. Unfortunately for Strickland, he couldn’t follow through but gave the fans exactly what they wanted to see, in a way.
“I can’t give Sean too hard of a time in fairness because the fight was so short,” Sonnen said. “We don’t know what was to come. We’re only looking at a couple minutes of fight here. Sean’s going forward, Sean hadn’t quite got down to cutting him off yet, the elevation change, some of these things could have still been in the plan and it got cut short.
“Can we give Sean a pass? I mean, Sean was trying to do what the audience really wanted to see. The audience really wanted to see this fight but if we knew Sean was just going to go out, tackle him, put him in a realm he had never been in, all the sudden they lose interest a little bit. They wanted Sean to stand and trade. That’s you guys. You were the audience. That’s what you wanted, he went out and gave you what you wanted. Is it really fair that we kick him now?”
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VIDEO STEW
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The Masked Chandler.
LISTEN UP
Heck of a Morning. MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck discusses whether or not Alex Pereira will be the guy to dethrone Israel Adesanya.
SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE
Taking action.
I know all the English fans are frustrated and gutted with @darrentill2 pulling out but guys, at this level injuries happen a lot. Especially when you train hard. I know Till, he busts his ass. But I promise you me and Jack will try to give you guys some proper entertainment.
— Chris Curtis The Action Man (@Actionman513) July 7, 2022
Legends.
今日の記者会見で浜崎選手が着ていた、ルイ・ヴィトンのグリーンのジャケットが無茶苦茶似合っていて、カッコ良過ぎたので一緒に写真撮ってもらいました！ pic.twitter.com/yUVV7GBO9I
— NOBUYUKI SAKAKIBARA (@nobu_sakakibara) July 7, 2022
What a poster.
悔しいけどでも凄く気になる
グランプリ見に行きたいけど
ちょうど旦那が合宿でいなくて
ワンオペ中の日
2人いても見れるかな…？ pic.twitter.com/6tIWNSLala— 大島沙緒里（安達） (@cb_saori) July 7, 2022
Fancy modifications.
Check out my recreation of @StevenRayMMA modified twister sub win over Anthony Pettis. Some pretty cool details …I’m sure I missed some …how did I do @StevenRayMMA ?? https://t.co/AXR0UHQcHf @1on1 pic.twitter.com/FQtxsDBL7n
— Laura Sanko (@laura_sanko) July 6, 2022
Sorry, man.
There goes my rematch….
— Adrian Yanez (@yanezmma) July 7, 2022
Poor, @henry.
Sept 10th to soon fat ass or you all talk @henry. Can’t find his twitter someone tag please
— Sean O’Malley (@SugaSeanMMA) July 7, 2022
Road to recovery.
Triumph.
Great success!
Rena.
Patience, grasshopper.
The power of patience and counter striking…#BFL73 pic.twitter.com/74K4c7E6tq
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) July 8, 2022
Updates.
Broke my thumb in the second round, but that don’t stop us!
Having surgery today and will be out for 12 weeks. Looking forward to getting back out there, thanks to everyone for the support pic.twitter.com/XvwLd223vL— Alex Volkanovski (@alexvolkanovski) July 8, 2022
Safe travels.
Had a great time here in Cali, shout out to all my guys on @RVCA @rvcasport for the hospitality! Had a great time with the family and great training as well! Im at the Lax now waiting my flight ✈️ back to Florida! pic.twitter.com/SUBQSXVK47
— GILBERT BURNS DURINHO (@GilbertDurinho) July 8, 2022
Subtle jab.
Tease.
Something special in the make. Just wait and see pic.twitter.com/udOds5Z5Gg
— C H T O V E R A (@chitoveraUFC) July 8, 2022
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Emi Fujino (24-13-1) vs. Song Hyeyun (0-1); PANCRASE 329, Sept. 11
FINAL THOUGHTS
Pancrase with some simply shameless matchmaking there.
Happy Friday, gang! Have a happy and safe weekend. Thanks for reading!
EXIT POLL
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