What could Adesanya have done better in the Strickland fight?

[Steve Fox]

Pull out.

 

[Young Calf Kick]

If he didn't get punched and kicked so much he would've had a better chance sir

Also, maybe if he spent less time fondling his dog or putting on nail polish, and more time studying his opponent Sean, he would of put up a better fight

 

[StonedLemur]

Truth being spoken lol

 

[AstralPanda]

A lot more high quality boxing training. That investment seemed to be night and day for Strickland and I wonder how much it's emphasized by Izzy. Guys with good boxing fundamentals have always given him trouble.

He didn't fight all that different than he ever does, but he did seem a bit flat. That life or death energy needs to be there, like he had in that 5th against Gastelum.

I'm sure there's a lot more.

Even then though, Strickland is a very tough style matchup. His boxing defence was exceptional, completely nullified Izzy's kicks. His reads, reactions and reflexes were great. He left very few openings to be countered or even hit at all.

I could see that Strickland beating any version of Izzy.

 

[Young Calf Kick]

Truth being spoken lol

You’re having a good old time ever since the card ended innit ya oldass playa hata lmao

 

[StonedLemur]

You’re having a good old time ever since the card ended innit ya oldass playa hata lmao

Im having a good time all the time, but yes my dick was hard the entire fight sir lol.

 

[Pictureonthewall]

Read study notes from sherdog. You cant lose.

 

[Hog-train]

Throw more combos than 1-2. Strickland was ready for 1-2 combos that in boxing would be pretty basic.

Stand his ground more instead of back peddling the entire time. He kept getting crowded against the fence.

 

[Brit_Brawler]

Nothing he would never beat fighter like Strickland. Izzy has bad boxing defence and he always struggles with fighters who have good jab and defence and when they pressure him against the fence

Prime bisping would've beaten izzy too

 

[Harlekin]

Whenever Izzy threw combinations, Strickland landed on him and hard.
He saw Izzys punches coming, ducked and countered.

 

[Bubba32]

Pulled out.

 

[jooohnmatrix]

I don’t think there’s anything he could have done. Alex exposed him and cracked his chin. I think it’s clear he was never that good and should probably just retire.

 

[RedfernNow]

Looked like Weidman walking down Anderson Silva.

Izzy does not the power of Pereira so he got bullied whereas P knocked out Strickland while he was doing the same thing.

Du Plessis and Khamzat would wreck Izzy on that showing because they come forward too.

 

[Redando]

I don’t think he could have done better.
We have seen against Blasowizch and Pereira that Izzy is very limited when his kicks are neutralised. A good leg checker will cause Izzy problems.
It also seems that checked leg kicks makes him also tired and slow. He gets heavy legs when somebody checks his kicks.
Izzy without kicks from distance is 20% the fighter he is with kicks.
The coach of Strickland saw the second fight of Izzy and Pereira in the UFC. Pereira did the same thing. He pressured Izzy and took away his kicks and had no problem with Izzy. Izzy was just lucky that Pereira thought Izzy was out en left his chin open. Izzy was almost done if Pereira didn’t rush.

Strickland has good defence and great cardio. He is able to pressure Izzy. In close range Izzy has nothing for him. Even though Strickland is very limited. He has Al the anti tools for Izzy.
He can read shots. He can pressure to take leg kicks away. He can box better in close range. izzy can’t clinch with him because he is too scared to go to the ground.
he has to run for 5 rounds to try to maintain distance and deal with the pressure.

 

[MMAProfessional]

We've seen Izzy do this gameplan in the past but Sean wasn't afraid and pressed the action. The knockdown in the first probably didn't help in him waiting too much but those saying Izzy looked different must not watch his fights. Personally when you go 1-2 in your last 3 for title shots you shouldn't get an immediate rematch. Also Sean just straight up beat him.

 

[Jeandoozz]

That obviously didn't happen. But after watching the fight a second time, I noticed a couple things he might've done better:.

First, don't forget that the early knockdown is a complete game changer. Without it maybe Izzy would have cruised to a UD with is initial gameplan.

Second i agree with you : i was expecting more leg kicks out of punching combos and feints. At least after seeing that Sean was easily checking one shot leg kicks.

I also wonder why Izzy invested so much in the left middle. He used a lot of those, probable to set up the question mark front kick, but it looked very inefficient. But why not, middle are good against boxers, it just wasnt that good that night^^

 

[corrupted]

Concentrate more on the fighter and not his nails during the build up

 

[BoD 2.0]

JAB!!! He was allowing Strickland to walk him down, and back him up, while throwing no punches. Sean wasn’t punching his way in. He was walking into range, with his hands down! Izzy should’ve been throwing jabs non-stop at his face. And mixing up the tempo. One power jab to Sean’s nose would’ve completely changed the story of that fight.

 

[Miokink026]

Ah my bad brother, didn't realize only professional fighters and coaches are allowed to post here. Please bless us with your knowledge so that we might learn from you.

my knowledge? here it is.

I know I don't know enough. all I know is stating things like "just block more" or "just throw oblique kicks" and thinking it's that simple, that I know better than world class coaches and fighters is pretty stupid.

how's that?

 

[doggo]

After all these years I would guess Izzy should have decent Muay thai, He would have probably been better off getting in close and blasting that shell with hard elbow and knee combos.