So how did Strickland do that?

[TankAbbott4Eva]

I can’t figure it out. I thought Izzy would keep his distance, pick him off and overwhelm him to a late TKO.

But apparently to beat Izzy you stand in front, follow him, use the Philly Shell stance and beat him quite easily.

Also he’s apparently got no power but he dropped Izzy clean at the end of the first, no problems at all.

So can anyone explain this one? And I must say props to the new champ, fought the fight of his life, what a great performance.

 

[OldBoy91]

Izzy has always struggled with defensively sound strikers, even before MMA.

An old washed Anderson gave Izzy more trouble than he gave far lesser fighters just due to how defensively astute he was.

As for Strickland having no power, he's a 6'2 or 6'3 man who cuts to 185 pounds. He has power.

People said the same about Bisping too and he KTFO of the pound for pound #4 and took the belt also. Everyone can rock or drop someone if they connect with the right shot in the right spot.

 

[kumitechamp]

Well you practice and perfect your craft for 10 plus years would be a good start. A lot more went in to this than what you are trying to reduce if down to.

 

[joey gerbils]

Strickland has some of the best boxing in mma and people slept on Strickland bc the poatan loss is still pretty fresh in everyone's memory

 

[TheTickG]

I can’t figure it out. I thought Izzy would keep his distance, pick him off and overwhelm him to a late TKO.

But apparently to beat Izzy you stand in front, follow him, use the Philly Shell stance and beat him quite easily.

Also he’s apparently got no power but he dropped Izzy clean at the end of the first, no problems at all.

So can anyone explain this one? And I must say props to the new champ, fought the fight of his life, what a great performance.

Izzy is a skilled striker.
But, his specialty is feinting stupid shit that causes his opponent to make stupid mistakes and get hurt.

Strickland didn't do stupid mistakes, which frustrated Izzy into once in awhile making stupid mistakes.

Also, Strickland had very sound defense.

Also, Strickland properly cut off the cage.

 

[LeBron]

Costa must be kicking himself right now. He’s a pressure-boxer like Strickland but with even more power.

 

[Fugitive Pete]

Well you practice and perfect your craft for 10 plus years would be a good start. A lot more went in to this than what you are trying to reduce if down to.

This. In the end there's a lot more nuances in the game than Sherdoggers would like to admit. I'm sure there were a bunch of fans that were screaming at the TV for Strickland to put on the pressure and throw combinations to try finish Adesanya, but he put on a great, defensively sound fight.

 

[Objectively Correct]

I can’t figure it out. I thought Izzy would keep his distance, pick him off and overwhelm him to a late TKO.

But apparently to beat Izzy you stand in front, follow him, use the Philly Shell stance and beat him quite easily.

Also he’s apparently got no power but he dropped Izzy clean at the end of the first, no problems at all.

So can anyone explain this one? And I must say props to the new champ, fought the fight of his life, what a great performance.

What Eugene Bareman talked about at the press conference was that the fact Sean would always immediately counter the counter strikes of Izzy, always threw something whenever Izzy countered. That might have been a big factor.

 

[mangokush]

There are levels to striking in MMA and Sean showed that he is at a much higher level than Izzy offensively & defensively

Sean proberly expected Izzy to be at a high level of striking when they fought but it seemed that Sean was at a level that far exceeded Izzy

 

[Fossor]

Hard work & dedication. Yeeeeeaaaaaaah!

 

[Royce's Gi]

I can’t figure it out. I thought Izzy would keep his distance, pick him off and overwhelm him to a late TKO.

But apparently to beat Izzy you stand in front, follow him, use the Philly Shell stance and beat him quite easily.

Also he’s apparently got no power but he dropped Izzy clean at the end of the first, no problems at all.

So can anyone explain this one? And I must say props to the new champ, fought the fight of his life, what a great performance.

He did his homework and took it more seriously than when he fought Alex?

Gameplan, he knew Izzy was a Counterstriker with good lowkicks, so Sean did the Pressure Fighter thingy and sharpened up his defences before fight time

No fear either, he seemed to be able to even counter Izzys counters

 

[yookfarb]

Well you practice and perfect your craft for 10 plus years would be a good start. A lot more went in to this than what you are trying to reduce if down to.

Yes Sean has been evolving into his peculiar style for a long time but it had weaknesses which were exploited by Alex. He did a marvelous job at mitigating his risk factors.

 

[Kono dio da!]

I can’t figure it out. I thought Izzy would keep his distance, pick him off and overwhelm him to a late TKO.

But apparently to beat Izzy you stand in front, follow him, use the Philly Shell stance and beat him quite easily.

Also he’s apparently got no power but he dropped Izzy clean at the end of the first, no problems at all.

So can anyone explain this one? And I must say props to the new champ, fought the fight of his life, what a great performance.

What's strange is he trapped Izzy behind the two black lines, in other words, close to the cage, which has proven damn near impossible. Whittaker couldn't do it. Only Pereira could do it. Damn, I hate Strickland but he's a menace. Feel bad for anyone who has to fight him. Cardio, chin and just constant volume and pressure.

 

[TankAbbott4Eva]

Well you practice and perfect your craft for 10 plus years would be a good start. A lot more went in to this than what you are trying to reduce if down to.

I want to be clear, I'm not a fighter and I have an armchair understanding of it, it's a genuine question because I didn't understand what the hell happened.

 

[TankAbbott4Eva]

Izzy is a skilled striker.
But, his specialty is feinting stupid shit that causes his opponent to make stupid mistakes and get hurt.

Strickland didn't do stupid mistakes, which frustrated Izzy into once in awhile making stupid mistakes.

Also, Strickland had very sound defense.

Also, Strickland properly cut off the cage.

Yeah those two seemed to be crucial for sure, Izzy got cornered for a lot of the fight no doubt.

He did his homework and took it more seriously than when he fought Alex?

Gameplan, he knew Izzy was a Counterstriker with good lowkicks, so Sean did the Pressure Fighter thingy and sharpened up his defences before fight time

No fear either, he seemed to be able to even counter Izzys counters

Yeah maybe it's all the sparring he does, it seemed ridiculously normal for him to be fighting, Izzy looked way more stressed than what he did.

What Eugene Bareman talked about at the press conference was that the fact Sean would always immediately counter the counter strikes of Izzy, always threw something whenever Izzy countered. That might have been a big factor.

Yeah I've just watched it now, interesting discussion by Bareman, getting countered every time fucked him up a bit it would appear.

 

[MeatWagon06]

He eaty, sleepy, trainy sparring 24/7

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

the styles clashed. Adesanya wanted to point fight but Strickland didn't react the way most guys do when facing Adesanya. he didn't sit back and handcuff himself the way Whittaker and Cannonier did. i think if Adesanya went into the fight with a more aggressive gameplan where he put Sean on the backfoot and then used some feints to open up Strickland's defense the fight would play out much differently. in rd 2 Adesanya stood his ground and exchanged with Sean and he did much better, but then reverted back to trying to counter and moving on the outside and Sean is comfortable with that and went back to work.

 

[Brit_Brawler]

Strickland always had the skill. He's basic in his attacks but the fundamentals are there. I feel like since he's been training with poatan, his power looks way better
Something has been tweaked

 

[kumitechamp]

I want to be clear, I'm not a fighter and I have an armchair understanding of it, it's a genuine question because I didn't understand what the hell happened.

Defense mostly reflexes from years of training man. Discipline to stay the course and not overextend or over chase which would leave himself open to be countered. Not biting on the bazillion feints Izzy through. Much more effective use of energy. Sean did more with less energy expenditure less movement. He was the far more efficient fighter. Rewatch the exchanges slow them down. It was an amazing performance a masterclass.

 

[TankAbbott4Eva]

Defense mostly reflexes from years of training man. Discipline to stay the course and not overextend or over chase which would leave himself open to be countered. Not biting on the bazillion feints Izzy through. Much more effective use of energy. Sean did more with less energy expenditure less movement. He was the far more efficient fighter. Rewatch the exchanges slow them down. It was an amazing performance a masterclass.

Yeah I do need a rewatch for sure. Sparring is hard on the mind and body but it’s great preparation, I think James Toney had a similar approach.