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Sean Strickland stuck to the basics — and it helped him in a big way against Israel Adesanya.
Strickland became the new middleweight champion following an impressive unanimous decision victory over Adesanya in the UFC 293 headliner last night in Sydney, Australia.
Despite going into the contest as a massive underdog, the American was able to drop “The Last Stylebender” towards the end of the first round. From there on after, he didn't face any trouble whatsoever as he walked Adesanya down, evaded strikes and continued to pepper the now former champion.
And according to boxing analyst and trainer Teddy Atlas, it was the basic jabbing game of Strickland that was able to disrupt Adesanya's game entirely.
“We all knew that obviously Izzy was the more dynamic talent here, and a different kind of striker, almost one in a millennium,” Atlas said on the post-show (via MMA Fighting). “Almost makes you think about Anderson Silva, guys like that, that kind of pure ability to make his own music, as I was saying yesterday. But this guy [Strickland]kinda pulled the plug out of the music, and really cut off the music, and he did it in a simple way, in a conventional way, in a basic way.
“Basic is good sometimes. He did it with a jab — he set the table with the jab, and he ate with the right hand all night long. And as far as defense, he didn’t forget about that. That was his offense, very simple, not complex, but efficient, effective.
But his defense? Just stepping out of range, just controlling range, being calm in an un-calm environment, and just getting a little out of range, a little bit back in — not too much out, just enough to make him miss, and then close enough where he could come back with that jab and control and dictate. The greatest thing about him tonight, he was steady. Sometimes steady is better than flashy, better than fast, better than electric, you know? No music tonight. It was quiet.”
UFC president Dana White would later call for an immediate rematch. He also stated how he felt Israel Adesanya fought in slow motion and had no idea what led to his defeat.
For Atlas, however, the point still remains — it all comes down to basics and Adesanya was caught lacking.
“In boxing and in my world, we would have been saying [Adesanya] needs to put the left behind the right hand,” Atlas added. “Because you can block so many, but then if you put enough together while the guy’s handcuffed, you can get to him, because when the guy’s blocking too many, he’s handcuffed too long, he can’t do nothing, [and] eventually, you get through.
“He didn’t put that extra punch together, and I’m taking nothing away, obviously, from Strickland, but that helped a little bit.”
