Exactly what I hope for.
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Just watched the fight… beat him fair and square; utterly owned the pocket to the point Adesanya didn’t even want to engage.
Imagine being beat outright by someone you thought was levels beneath you.
I think Izzy’s close to being done with the sport. He looks more vulnerable than he did in his pomp and his reflexes aren’t what they used to be.
Credit to Strickland, though. That 4-1 was thoroughly deserved. He beat the champ good and proper.
Imagine being beat outright by someone you thought was levels beneath you.
I think Izzy’s close to being done with the sport. He looks more vulnerable than he did in his pomp and his reflexes aren’t what they used to be.
Credit to Strickland, though. That 4-1 was thoroughly deserved. He beat the champ good and proper.
Welp
Also weren’t Izzy’s last 3 fights failed title defence, successful rematch, failed title defence? I feel like in those circumstances barring some crazy controversy they should move on to someone new, move him into a number one contender’s decider at least
Agreed. A Strickland v DDP matchup makes the most sense.
Yep, exactly. He just doesn't have a good case for the immediate rematch.
The most interesting thing about the fight for me was Izzy's awareness from the very first round that he couldn't stand toe to toe with Strickland in the pocket. I thought the fight would be an easy, two rounds at max into a K.O. victory for Izzy, but the moment it dawned on me that he couldn't engage in boxing range, there were questions on how he could get it done.
Was Idesanya's time to show how rounded he is and whether he's up there with the true greats - boxing wasn't working, so why not switch to muay thai or work in the clinch like Anderson, Jones, MM or GSP would? Strickland was open for knees and elbows straight down the middle because of his boxing stance - or at least the opportunity to test it and give him more to think about, was there - but Izzy did nothing to figure out what was obviously a problematic issue unfolding before his eyes.
Of course, Izzy's plan A has seen him mop up the division, but with the passage of time, he's simply not as sharp and fast as he was, evidenced by how many times he's getting hit for offering his face as bait for the counter these days. What the great ones have is multiple routes to victory, and if Adesanya does stick around, we're going to see if he has that about him too. I couldn't help but think how someone like Jones devours in the pocket despite having poor boxing; the fallback on his thai boxing and wrestling is so strong that opponents can't afford to be comfortable at any time, yet we got to see Strickland hunt Izzy down and have nothing to fear.
It was telling that Strickland had no marks on hin at the end of the fight whilst Izzy looked bruised, battered and exhausted (we can add exasperated). It's at this point in his career he has to decide whether he can adapt and adopt new attributes or call it a day because you can't say it was a fluke the way Strickland dismantled him - Izzy will need more tools to beat him in a rematch, which is a surrealist thing to say, especially with how most of us thought this fight would play out. What's even worse is Strickland is the smaller man with less reach and nothing but boxing; that's supposed to be food for an elite kickboxer. Just goes to show there was more going on in terms of nuance, or should we assume that the then champ never truly recovered from the blows in the 1st round? For the record, I think he recovered, but was startled by Strickland's hands, particularly the jab, and decided very early in the fight that he wanted none of that.
Adesanya always said he wants challenges... well with his aura of invincibility showing chinks now, he's going to experience a lot more directness and optimistic, speculative striking. Perhaps that'll be perfect for him, but my feeling is he is more hittable now than he ever has been. He used to evade everything, but I'm thinking there's a 1 or 2 in 10 chance a combo string has something in it that'll land on him. He'll have to reestablish dominance ASAP, or this'll be the period he goes from miles out there ahead of the pack to someone who is assailable. His next moves as an MMA fighter will be very interesting indeed - he's not the type to go out on a terrible loss, though, so we will see how this concludes organically. My feeling is, if he does win the strap back, he'll retire right then and there.
You normally say such a storied champion has nothing to prove, but in terms of legacy, I can't see him faring well in GOAT debates if this is how the pinnacle ends for him; 3-time champ has the much better ring to it... but can he even get the belt back?
Was Idesanya's time to show how rounded he is and whether he's up there with the true greats - boxing wasn't working, so why not switch to muay thai or work in the clinch like Anderson, Jones, MM or GSP would? Strickland was open for knees and elbows straight down the middle because of his boxing stance - or at least the opportunity to test it and give him more to think about, was there - but Izzy did nothing to figure out what was obviously a problematic issue unfolding before his eyes.
Of course, Izzy's plan A has seen him mop up the division, but with the passage of time, he's simply not as sharp and fast as he was, evidenced by how many times he's getting hit for offering his face as bait for the counter these days. What the great ones have is multiple routes to victory, and if Adesanya does stick around, we're going to see if he has that about him too. I couldn't help but think how someone like Jones devours in the pocket despite having poor boxing; the fallback on his thai boxing and wrestling is so strong that opponents can't afford to be comfortable at any time, yet we got to see Strickland hunt Izzy down and have nothing to fear.
It was telling that Strickland had no marks on hin at the end of the fight whilst Izzy looked bruised, battered and exhausted (we can add exasperated). It's at this point in his career he has to decide whether he can adapt and adopt new attributes or call it a day because you can't say it was a fluke the way Strickland dismantled him - Izzy will need more tools to beat him in a rematch, which is a surrealist thing to say, especially with how most of us thought this fight would play out. What's even worse is Strickland is the smaller man with less reach and nothing but boxing; that's supposed to be food for an elite kickboxer. Just goes to show there was more going on in terms of nuance, or should we assume that the then champ never truly recovered from the blows in the 1st round? For the record, I think he recovered, but was startled by Strickland's hands, particularly the jab, and decided very early in the fight that he wanted none of that.
Adesanya always said he wants challenges... well with his aura of invincibility showing chinks now, he's going to experience a lot more directness and optimistic, speculative striking. Perhaps that'll be perfect for him, but my feeling is he is more hittable now than he ever has been. He used to evade everything, but I'm thinking there's a 1 or 2 in 10 chance a combo string has something in it that'll land on him. He'll have to reestablish dominance ASAP, or this'll be the period he goes from miles out there ahead of the pack to someone who is assailable. His next moves as an MMA fighter will be very interesting indeed - he's not the type to go out on a terrible loss, though, so we will see how this concludes organically. My feeling is, if he does win the strap back, he'll retire right then and there.
You normally say such a storied champion has nothing to prove, but in terms of legacy, I can't see him faring well in GOAT debates if this is how the pinnacle ends for him; 3-time champ has the much better ring to it... but can he even get the belt back?
This is the issue with counter strikers, the reaction speed slows down quite early and then they're toast.
Agreed. However I think Izzy will get the rematch, it's in the UFC's interest to get him back on top with the belt. He's still one of the biggest stars in the sport, and him vs DDP and/or him vs Khamzat are massive fights.
DDP being firmly in the doghouse means he's unlikely to be rewarded with a title shot next. I think he's going to have to fight again. Maybe against the winner of Khamzat/Costa if they do end up making Izzy/Strickland 2.
I'll be interested to see what happens if Khamzat does beat Costa though and whether he'll call for a title shot next, him and Strickland have trained together often. But if there's any two fighters on the roster you would think could put friendship aside and revel in beating the shit out of each other for the belt it's these two.
Hats off to Sean for shit talking like this and then proceeding to win. 
Most of this inappropriate so if you're sensitive, don't watch. The man's a pure loon... and he's the UFC Middleweight Champion
Yep. Strickland seems to have trained with half the UFC middleweight roster. I don't know if the nutter is wired to develop a Cain/Cormier or Merab/Aljo level friendship that would prevent him from wanting to fight someone.
Most of this inappropriate so if you're sensitive, don't watch. The man's a pure loon... and he's the UFC Middleweight Champion
He's part peak Bisping, part Colby, and with a bit of Mike Perry sprinkled in.
Yeah and I think it's all really him. Whereas Colby is obviously fake.
I've always kind of rathered prime Conor style counter fighter than Israel's style. Seems like Izzy almost completely depends on having the reach advantage (which is what really makes him Whittaker's kryptonite) and being on the back foot. Conor, on the other hand, had this style of, a lot of the time, being the pressure fighter while also being the counter stiker. Like if you put Strickland's style against Conors then Strickland would have backed up the fence for the whole fight while Conor waited for the opening. You can see it at times in the Mendes fight but especially in the Alvarez fight, Conor is playing a countering game but he isn't giving up octagon postion to do it. Izzy just seems to give up the space so much easier than that.
Credit to Strickland though he was defensively excellent.
Credit to Strickland though he was defensively excellent.
Yeah you can't fake the genuine insanity that Strickland has
Most of this inappropriate so if you're sensitive, don't watch. The man's a pure loon... and he's the UFC Middleweight Champion
That’s amazingWe are liiivee!! Contender Series starting now.
Robert Whittaker says Israel Adesanya wasn’t “off,” he got shut down
Former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker, says he wasn’t a part of the majority of people who thought Sean Strickland would be an easy fight for Israel Adesanya.
“Let me just say, I didn’t think Izzy was going to run straight through Sean,” Whittaker said on his podcast. “My breakdown for that fight was Sean needed to put pressure on Izzy, get him moving back, get his back up against the fence, stay in threat range where he can hit Izzy, but Izzy can’t use his legs… The question was always how much damage is he going to take trying to get in that space, and the answer is not much.”
He also doesn’t believe the narrative that his former opponent in Israel Adesanya just had an “off night,” as he gave a technical analysis of what played out.
“Strickland had an answer for every one of Izzy’s techniques,” Whittaker said. “He was cutting off the cage perfectly, he was in that threat space where Izzy’s leg kicks were taken out of concern.
“Strickland’s defensive game was on point. With Izzy throwing those looping shots as he rope-a-dopes on the fence, Strickland was patient, just always keeping Izzy on the back foot,” he said. “It was honestly a great performance from Strickland.
“I see a lot of things popping up saying that Izzy looked off,” he continued. “I don’t think he had an off night. I think he looked off because Sean shut him down. Izzy wasn’t given any space in the open floor to do any of his tricky kicks, he wasn’t given any space to work any of his flinch games, with his punches. He wasn’t given the chance. Sean was in his face from the first bell ring.”
Whittaker thinks the early knockdown Israel Adesanya sustained also contributed to Strickland’s pressure game being far more effective.
“That first round just exasperated everything else. It boosted Sean’s confidence through the roof, and dropped Izzy’s right down,” Whittaker added. “Having a game the way Strickland does, being in threat range, being aggressive, forward — you need that confidence, and you need that doubt in your opponent, and it just set the stage for the other four rounds.”
John McCarthy, Josh Thomson push back on Dana White’s “bulls—t” narrative
Much like Whittaker, former Strikeforce champion Josh Thomson also didn’t agree with Israel Adesanya fighting out of character and looking slower than usual.
“It had nothing to do with Izzy having a bad night, and had everything to do with Sean Strickland’s performance,” Thomson responded on his podcast. “He fought a fight that people don’t normally fight against Israel. The one guy that fought that way against him is Alex Pereira, and look what happened.”
His co-host, original UFC referee turned MMA analyst “Big” John McCarthy also echoed the same sentiment as he pushed back on Dana White’s comments on Israel Adesanya.
“Bulls—t. Dana can have his opinion,” McCarthy said. “You gotta understand, Israel is a moneymaker for the UFC. Of course, Dana’s gonna have a preference here in who his champion is, because one makes big money and one right now is not that guy. Maybe Sean will be that guy (eventually). But to sit there and say he looked slow, he did not look slow, he did not look slow at all. He showed he was faster than Sean Strickland.
“Managing the range, and deciding when the engagement is going to occur, when (Adesanya) can do that, he’s unbeatable because he’s so goddamn gifted,” he said. “He couldn’t do that against Alex. Alex crushed that on him and gave him problems. Sean in this fight, crushed that well. He was unable to control that range. Sean kept the pressure on.
“He was fast. He just got beat by a style and a guy that fought beautifully that night,” McCarthy said.
https://bloodyelbow.com/2023/09/13/ufc-293-israel-adesanya-loss-strickland/
Former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker, says he wasn’t a part of the majority of people who thought Sean Strickland would be an easy fight for Israel Adesanya.
“Let me just say, I didn’t think Izzy was going to run straight through Sean,” Whittaker said on his podcast. “My breakdown for that fight was Sean needed to put pressure on Izzy, get him moving back, get his back up against the fence, stay in threat range where he can hit Izzy, but Izzy can’t use his legs… The question was always how much damage is he going to take trying to get in that space, and the answer is not much.”
He also doesn’t believe the narrative that his former opponent in Israel Adesanya just had an “off night,” as he gave a technical analysis of what played out.
“Strickland had an answer for every one of Izzy’s techniques,” Whittaker said. “He was cutting off the cage perfectly, he was in that threat space where Izzy’s leg kicks were taken out of concern.
“Strickland’s defensive game was on point. With Izzy throwing those looping shots as he rope-a-dopes on the fence, Strickland was patient, just always keeping Izzy on the back foot,” he said. “It was honestly a great performance from Strickland.
“I see a lot of things popping up saying that Izzy looked off,” he continued. “I don’t think he had an off night. I think he looked off because Sean shut him down. Izzy wasn’t given any space in the open floor to do any of his tricky kicks, he wasn’t given any space to work any of his flinch games, with his punches. He wasn’t given the chance. Sean was in his face from the first bell ring.”
Whittaker thinks the early knockdown Israel Adesanya sustained also contributed to Strickland’s pressure game being far more effective.
“That first round just exasperated everything else. It boosted Sean’s confidence through the roof, and dropped Izzy’s right down,” Whittaker added. “Having a game the way Strickland does, being in threat range, being aggressive, forward — you need that confidence, and you need that doubt in your opponent, and it just set the stage for the other four rounds.”
John McCarthy, Josh Thomson push back on Dana White’s “bulls—t” narrative
Much like Whittaker, former Strikeforce champion Josh Thomson also didn’t agree with Israel Adesanya fighting out of character and looking slower than usual.
“It had nothing to do with Izzy having a bad night, and had everything to do with Sean Strickland’s performance,” Thomson responded on his podcast. “He fought a fight that people don’t normally fight against Israel. The one guy that fought that way against him is Alex Pereira, and look what happened.”
His co-host, original UFC referee turned MMA analyst “Big” John McCarthy also echoed the same sentiment as he pushed back on Dana White’s comments on Israel Adesanya.
“Bulls—t. Dana can have his opinion,” McCarthy said. “You gotta understand, Israel is a moneymaker for the UFC. Of course, Dana’s gonna have a preference here in who his champion is, because one makes big money and one right now is not that guy. Maybe Sean will be that guy (eventually). But to sit there and say he looked slow, he did not look slow, he did not look slow at all. He showed he was faster than Sean Strickland.
“Managing the range, and deciding when the engagement is going to occur, when (Adesanya) can do that, he’s unbeatable because he’s so goddamn gifted,” he said. “He couldn’t do that against Alex. Alex crushed that on him and gave him problems. Sean in this fight, crushed that well. He was unable to control that range. Sean kept the pressure on.
“He was fast. He just got beat by a style and a guy that fought beautifully that night,” McCarthy said.
https://bloodyelbow.com/2023/09/13/ufc-293-israel-adesanya-loss-strickland/
Yeah I don't agree with the sentiment he was 'off'. Chris Curtis did a great job explaining some of this on the MMA Hour on Monday - I know he's Sean's team-mate but it wasn't a biased take, he was trying to explain why Strickland is so difficult to fight and it's because he's so awkward and disrupts your rhythm.
Izzy is very much a rhythm fighter, and he did a great job disrupting that by taking away the jab, keeping the pressure on and throwing those teep kicks up the middle.
I did also think the changes to his style and defence-first attitude were simply the wrong approach. You might think the best way to counter a guy that comes forward and puts on constant pressure is to get away from him, but being on the backfoot for 25 full minutes is a HARD way to win a fight especially when that guy can stop you finding your rhythm, has good fundamentals and is very hard to hit clean.
If he gets the rematch I honestly think he needs to summon that energy from round 5 of the Gastelum fight and go to battle from the beginning. Curtis talked about how Strickland can essentially limit your output and stop you throwing combinations with his consistent front-foot parrying and that's where he needs to adjust I think.
Stop ceeding ground constantly, hold the middle of the octagon and throw combinations with intent. Sean is a very good striker as we know in terms of fundamentals, tough, hard to hit clean and has great cardio so it won't be easy, but I feel like Izzy needs to back his variety, speed and power more in a firefight.
Izzy is very much a rhythm fighter, and he did a great job disrupting that by taking away the jab, keeping the pressure on and throwing those teep kicks up the middle.
I did also think the changes to his style and defence-first attitude were simply the wrong approach. You might think the best way to counter a guy that comes forward and puts on constant pressure is to get away from him, but being on the backfoot for 25 full minutes is a HARD way to win a fight especially when that guy can stop you finding your rhythm, has good fundamentals and is very hard to hit clean.
If he gets the rematch I honestly think he needs to summon that energy from round 5 of the Gastelum fight and go to battle from the beginning. Curtis talked about how Strickland can essentially limit your output and stop you throwing combinations with his consistent front-foot parrying and that's where he needs to adjust I think.
Stop ceeding ground constantly, hold the middle of the octagon and throw combinations with intent. Sean is a very good striker as we know in terms of fundamentals, tough, hard to hit clean and has great cardio so it won't be easy, but I feel like Izzy needs to back his variety, speed and power more in a firefight.
Second fight of the evening about to start.
Banger alert. JDM Vs Holland up next.
Great fight. I had it 48-47 Shevchenko but hopefully we get a third fight.
No way there was a 10 8 round.
The 5th round was 10 8. Shevchenko won 4 minutes of it.
That scoring in the last round was shocking. 10-8 to Grasso? Not a chance. From one of the better judges too. Has he scored Shevchenko’s slip as a knock down?
Never seen a fighter lose grip and slip as much as Shevchenko did there. Was one of them greased up?
Never seen a fighter lose grip and slip as much as Shevchenko did there. Was one of them greased up?
If he gives Grasso that 10 8 because she may have been about to get a choke attempt (she didn't) at the end, then Shevchenko must win the 3rd 10 8 for having that deep guillotine. It makes no sense.
Great fight. Love Grasso. Happy to see a third. Also... DC
Loved the fight, thought Valentina edged it but it was really close all in all. More volume from Valentina but Grasso did a lot of damage when she went for it.
Really enjoyed Kopylovs performance as well. Lightning fast for a fighter his size!
Really enjoyed Kopylovs performance as well. Lightning fast for a fighter his size!
Crazy how Shevchenko has gone from impervious to having a genuine rivalry that needs a third bout.
The weird thing is that if Shevchenko wins fight three, there will probably be a fight four.
She is closer to 36 years old now. Her decline has been evident for a while now.
She arguably has lost her last 3 fights so I hope Blanchfield gets the next title shot and Valentina gets to fight Fiorot for the next shot.
Can't see that happening when a majority of objective fans thought Val won the fight and even the commentators were saying 10-8 in the fifth was BS. Given her age, it wouldn't make sense to do anything other than an immediate rematch. I can see how Grasso wouldn't want it though since she was down to Shevchenko in both fights and wouldn't want to lose
The 10-8 was crazy but Alexa still won rounds 2,4 and 5 for me.
I don't know where you get your data from, but majority of objective fans had it split 50/50.
every other UFC fight is a rematch or trilogy at this point and still they never gave us Valentina Nunes again, and now at least one of them is washed
The 10-8 was crazy but Alexa still won rounds 2,4 and 5 for me.
I don't know where you get your data from, but majority of objective fans had it split 50/50.
According to the judges, Shevchenko would've won if not for the absurd 10-8 to Grasso in the final round. I agree with Shevchenko that they gifted Grasso the win to not ruin the vibe of Mexican independence day. Sad, but that's the way these things shake out sometimes.
You are right about her age, and I think part of the surreal with once such dominant fighters is when they lose their superhuman edge. Valentina is still a great fighter, but she's clearly waning and more vulnerable than we've known, which opens the doors to fights like we're seeing these days that are tight, hard-fought contests, win or lose.
As such a dominant fighter and legend, I doubt anyone else gets title shots unless she says she's out or had enough. The credit she has in the bank to make such calls is un-paralleled in her division so it'll come down to her outlook how, or when, this ends (to the extent she isn't obliterated in a re-match, of course). It wouldn't surprise me to see these two fight a third and fourth time (as @Raoul mentioned) if Valentina's heart is still in it