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 new result has drawn a lot of criticism from Strickland, the outspoken and outspoken fighter. However, Chael Sonnen (three-time UFC champion) doesn’t think it is fair.
“Should Sean Strickland be given a pass?” Sonnen asked his YouTube Channel .. You know that I give him one. Sean Strickland is a true believer, you know that. 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 is able to kickbox with the guy. Sean Strickland can beat this guy. Sean Strickland can be the No. 1 contender. To make these things true, all I need is the threat to 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 started, Strickland began to walk Pereira down. This is what he does with all his opponents. Pereira used his volume and range to some effect early in the fight. He then sealed the deal with Pereira midway through round one. This ended the six-fight run of “Tarzan’s .”
“.
Strickland arguably stole the whole fight week building up to UFC 276, claimed Sonnen. The back and forth between Israel Adesanya, the New Bern native, and Sonnen was a big part of the buzz at the pre-fight press conference. 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. This is just a few minutes of fighting. Sean is moving forward. Sean didn’t get down to cutting Sean off yet. The elevation change, some other things, could still have been part of the plan, but it was cut short.
” Can we forgive Sean? Sean tried to show the crowd what he was capable of. 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 asked Sean to 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. Till is a sexy guy. Jack and I will do our best to entertain you.
— Chris Curtis The Action Man (@Actionman513) July 7, 2022
Legends.
Jin Ri noJi Zhe Hui Jian deBang Qi Xuan Shou gaZhao teita, ruivuitonnogurinnoziyaketsutogaWu Cha Ku Cha Si He tsuteite, katsukoLiang Guo gitanodeYi Xu niXie Zhen Cuo tsutemoraimashita! pic.twitter.com/yUVV7GBO9I
— NOBUYUKI SAKAKIBARA (@nobu_sakakibara) July 7, 2022
What a poster.
Hui shiikedodemoQi kuQi ninaru
guranpuriJian niXing kitaikedo
chiyoudoDan Na gaHe Su deinakute
wanopeZhong noRi
2Ren itemoJian rerukana…? pic.twitter.com/6tIWNSLala— Da Dao Sha Xu Li (An Da ) (@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
Roads 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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