Outside Source
Strickland was a massive underdog going into his middleweight headliner against Anthony Hernandez at UFC Houston on Saturday. However, Strickland displayed his signature defensive striking masterclass from the opening bell, never letting “Fluffy” find his rhythm. Strickland folded Hernandez with a knee to the midsection in the third round and followed up with a barrage of punches, forcing the referee to step in and stop the fight.
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Cormier believes that the version of Strickland that defeated Hernandez could also pose a serious threat to the champion Khamzat Chimaev. “DC” recalls that a similar version of Strickland had shocked the world by dethroning Israel Adesanya to win the middleweight title in 2023. Strickland lost his title to Dricus Du Plessis in his first defense and failed to reclaim it in their rematch. However, Cormier believes Strickland wasn’t completely locked in against Du Plessis.
A Formidable Test
“If that guy that showed up tonight shows up in that [Khamzat] fight, it would be a much more difficult fight for the great Khamzat Chimaev,” Cormier said on YouTube. “Because even Israel Adesanya, at the peak of his power, struggled with that version of Sean Strickland. In the Dricus Du Plessis fight, it didn’t seem like Sean was locked all the way in; he seemed a little messed up.”
While Strickland (30-7) and Chimaev (15-0) have trained together in the past, they are now trading barbs. Chimaev claims Strickland is hostile towards him after getting choked out in training. Meanwhile, Strickland brushes it off as a positional sparring incident and claims to have made Chimaev quit training.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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