What makes Strickland a top fighter?

[icemun]

Watching him fight, I have a hard time discerning what makes him elite. He's clearly able to compete with the best and Im sure its a case of , I dont have sophisticated enough an eye to gauge, but what makes him so good?

He doesnt kick, wrestle, have a dynamic arsenal of moves. He doesn't seem unusually athletic, agile, or defensive. His boxing looks pedestrian to me, with no head or lateral movement, with the exception of his seemingly effective jab which frankly looks kind of slow.

In no way am I bashing the guy because he was champion material, but what I am I missing?

 

[Klaavical]

Agression 10/10

 

[kingghidrah]

Defense wins championships

 

[Van Daz]

Watching him fight, I have a hard time discerning what makes him elite. He's clearly able to compete with the best and Im sure its a case of , I dont have sophisticated enough an eye to gauge, but what makes him so good?

He doesnt kick, wrestle, have a dynamic arsenal of moves. He doesn't seem unusually athletic, agile, or defensive. His boxing looks pedestrian to me, with no head or lateral movement, with the exception of his seemingly effective jab which frankly looks kind of slow.

In no way am I bashing the guy because he was champion material, but what I am I missing?

He's good at grappling and doesn't rely on it as he's got good standup. Can check kicks & has a great left jab with his long arms. He seems to hold back with his right hand until he feels the time is right. Good takedown defense & willing to put on that forward pressure. Not a flashy fighter, but tough as an Ox. Mentally tough, also.

 

[Telford90]

Watching him fight, I have a hard time discerning what makes him elite. He's clearly able to compete with the best and Im sure its a case of , I dont have sophisticated enough an eye to gauge, but what makes him so good?

He doesnt kick, wrestle, have a dynamic arsenal of moves. He doesn't seem unusually athletic, agile, or defensive. His boxing looks pedestrian to me, with no head or lateral movement, with the exception of his seemingly effective jab which frankly looks kind of slow.

In no way am I bashing the guy because he was champion material, but what I am I missing?

He has really good striking defence. Also he doesn't telegraph his jab at all, which is why it lands so effectively.

 

[xentreos]

Forrest griffin type of guy, with better defense. It's not one weapon but his arsenal that makes him dangerous, just like bisping. He's an over achiever

 

[ipowerslapmywife]

He has good boxing and is actually pretty fast which is why he gave Izzy problems and his accuracy

 

[IronGolem007]

Watching him fight, I have a hard time discerning what makes him elite. He's clearly able to compete with the best and Im sure its a case of , I dont have sophisticated enough an eye to gauge, but what makes him so good?

He doesnt kick, wrestle, have a dynamic arsenal of moves. He doesn't seem unusually athletic, agile, or defensive. His boxing looks pedestrian to me, with no head or lateral movement, with the exception of his seemingly effective jab which frankly looks kind of slow.

In no way am I bashing the guy because he was champion material, but what I am I missing?

I don't consider Strickland a "top" fighter; he's a gatekeeper-level fighter, whose unique style exploited Adesanya.

That's right, the Style-Bender got bent by Strickland's style <45>

Strickland had his 15 minutes, but he will never become Champion again.

At best, Strickland is mid-level.

 

[ipowerslapmywife]

You don’t have to be a finished to be elite.

 

[ipowerslapmywife]

I don't consider Strickland a "top" fighter; he's a gatekeeper-level fighter, whose unique style exploited Adesanya.

That's right, the Style-Bender got bent by Strickland's style <45>

Strickland had his 15 minutes, but he will never become Champion again.

At best, Strickland is mid-level.

He’s far from a gatekeeper lol. Gatekeepers don’t dominate Izzy or become champ. He even arguably won last night.

 

[ipowerslapmywife]

Forrest griffin type of guy, with better defense. It's not one weapon but his arsenal that makes him dangerous, just like bisping. He's an over achiever

He’s levels above Forrest get real

 

[Azure]

Strickland is a can thread confirmed

 

[TheMMAnalyst]

It's a simple approach built from thousands of hours of sparring and hundreds of gym wars and street fights.

Fighting is ultimately the sum of all it's parts and Strickland makes it work through intangibles that can't be inherently learned (feel, off-beat rhythm, toughness, variation on simple strikes and set-ups), only built through depth of experience.

But yes it's surprising he's been able to make a relatively predictable fighting style work so effectively for so long - but then again this is MW, everything over 155 lbs the relatively barometer to be incredibly athletic and diversely skilled drops off dramatically as weight increases.

 

[BangBang]

Doing Simple’s things exceedingly well. His jab is a weapon and when you jab well you generally do well.it’s so much more than just a set up for other attacks - it surprises me how poor some fighters have are. Hi is timing is top tier too.

 

[Tabarnakos]

He's kind of like Obi Wan Kenobi. He never had the most raw talent just like Obi Wan never had the most force potential but through hard work , hours of training and dedication they both focused on mastering and polishing various aspects of their game and ended up becoming very well rounded fighters capable of taking on all kind of elite opponents.

And for fuck sakes i feel like a complete nerd after posting this but to my defense i watched Episode 3 on cable a couple hours ago so..

 

[xentreos]

He’s levels above Forrest get real

How so? I don't think so. Forrest was good dude

 

[Nausicaa]

Excellent boxer, even better defense, fast reaction time and reflexes, and cardio to name a few

 

[PaddyO'malley]

-Champion mind result from brute force his way to greatness.

- #bluecollarmatrix technique

-"He fight like man" -Commentator Sanko

And maybe soon master God of Freedom form

 

[RonDante]

Great defense and vision, checks kicks well, takedown defense and getting back up, great jab, forward pressure, pacing, something else probably

 

[NoSmilez]

He can fight but he doesn't have many ways to win. He has a weird hybrid guard. It's not really Philly shell. He is really good at parrying and defending kicks but it goes away when he attacks.