Well then, who saw that coming? Sean Strickland is now king of the UFC middleweights after a fantastic display of pressure and stern defence over 25 minutes bamboozled Israel Adesanya into submission at the weekend, on enemy soil no less, as fresh matchups galore have been cracked open after the American’s shock title victory in Australia. Click to read more, for the debrief.
Strickland did the unthinkable: outstrike Adesanya
49-46, 49-46, 49-46: Sean Strickland [5] bt. Israel Adesanya (c)
32-year-old American contender wins UFC middleweight title
You think you know, and then MMA just springs another surprise and proves you wrong. So much for those wolf tickets, eh? Adesanya’s second reign as middleweight champion was a short one and all of his own doing, with Eric Nicksick-led Strickland’s first-round knockdown proving pivotal as he walked the titlist down and checked leg kicks, staying away from kickboxing range and pressing the action.
Round-by-round significant strike totals with success in percentage
R1: Strickland 27-12 (51-30%)
R2: Adesanya 20-16 (31-50%)
R3: Adesanya 21-20 (36-48%)
R4: Strickland 38-20 (60-39%)
R5: Strickland 36-21 (50-35%)
While whizzing close a few times, the concussive punching Alex Pereira was unable to rock Adesanya over two UFC fights (32 minutes) yet Strickland managed that feat before the first round ended just goes to show MMA math is often meaningless too.
Adesanya landed 34 of his 94 significant strikes (36%) to Strickland’s legs, but the challenger checked so many that they didn’t destabilise him or really encourage a backwards step. Instead, he plodded forward after being outstruck in round two.
Adesanya threw more but was jarringly inefficient, increasingly frustrated and fighting on the back foot against someone unwilling to fall into the same traps many – namely Jared Cannonier and Marvin Vettori most recently – have in the past.
So much so that he told head coach Eugene Bareman as much in-between rounds, unable to land his jab and bamboozled by a defensively responsible Strickland who cut the cage well, keeping the 34-year-old at a safe distance for sustained periods.
It’s no wonder Strickland told Megan Olivi afterwards that he expected a tougher fight to win championship gold. Armchair psychologists will predictably chalk this surprise result up to fatigue, underestimating a plucky challenger or combo of both.
Daniel Cormier and Kamaru Usman, two former champions fond of Adesanya, have both spoken out about his activity. Perhaps a six-month hiatus may do him some good, given how frequently he’s fought since first seizing gold in October 2019.
The uncomfortable visual of Adesanya telling the assembled media that he was off to de-stress with friends and family after this humbling decision defeat, as opposed to fronting up as the card’s main attraction – win or lose – doesn’t help his case.
Instead it fanned the flames for those who claim middleweight can move on just fine without him for the timebeing, especially after Dricus du Plessis’ standout showing against another former champion in Robert Whittaker two months prior.
One thing is for sure. Strickland fought beautifully from the opening horn, it was his night, and serves as another reminder that you can’t afford to write off the underdog – no matter how unlikely the outcome may seem when they’ve got nothing to lose.
Rest of main card, starting with Volkov
Since his first-round submission defeat by #4 ranked heavyweight Tom Aspinall, perennial contender Alexander Volkov has now improved to 3-0 with a trio of stoppage wins after quick thinking and a tight squeeze saw him choke out Tai Tuivasa (R2, 4:37 via Ezekiel choke) in the evening’s co-main event.
Having scored a R1 knockdown and landing 51 of his 83 significant strike attempts (61%) in a one-sided opener, his accuracy only increased (70%) in round two en route to the fourth submission win of the Russian veteran’s career after logging almost two-and-a-half minutes’ worth of control time as Tuivasa was overwhelmed.
As a result, Volkov remains #6 in the rankings update while fan favourite Tuivasa has dropped down below Ciryl Gane’s most recent victim Serghei Spivac into #8.
Kape now on a four-fight win streak
In the flyweight division, Manel Kape promised an assertive showing and certainly produced one over 15 minutes to outwork Felipe dos Santos (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) before calling out former interim title challenger Kai Kara-France who watched cageside and was originally set to face the 29-year-old on this card.
Although his striking accuracy dropped as time wore on, the Angolan-born Portuguese international scored a first-round knockdown to boost already sky-high confidence given his fight week demeanour and dos Santos gamely fired back, albeit at a much less efficient clip (99 of 304 significant strikes total, 32% success).
Kape outstruck him 116-101 over 15 minutes and had almost double the Brazilian’s total accuracy (61-32%) though the 23-year-old didn’t shy away from the challenge of a difficult promotional debut and was given praise for his toughness post-fight.
Fast finishes for Tafa, Pedro among home comforts
After an accidental eye poke rendered the 29-year-old unable to continue during their original June matchup, this rematch didn’t last much longer.
Justin Tafa earned his first performance bonus ($50,000) after a furious first-round knockout of former NFL defensive end-turned-fighter Austen Lane (R1, 1:22).
He was not to be outdone by Tyson Pedro, who similarly finished the show in little over two minutes against Swedish light-heavyweight Anton Turkalj.
Pedro, 32 this weekend, has alligned himself with the highly-esteemed City Kickboxing team and head coach Eugene Bareman detailed the struggles he had to overcome, just to make it to fight night in one piece after arriving on site Monday.
That merely amplifies an impressive finish for the light-heavyweight, bouncing back from a decision defeat by Modestas Bukauskas at UFC 284 earlier this year in style.
Prelim results
Prelims
Light-heavy: Carlos Ulberg bt. Jung Da-un via R3 submission (rear-naked choke)
Featherweight: Chepe Mariscal bt. Jack Jenkins via R2 TKO (arm injury)
Lightweight: Jamie Mullarkey bt. John Makdessi via UD (29-28 x 3)
Lightweight: Nasrat Haqparast bt. Landon Quinones via UD (30-27 x 3)
Early prelims
Welterweight: Charlie Radtke bt. Mike Mathetha via UD (29-27 x 3)
Catchweight (149.75lbs): Gabriel Miranda bt. Shane Young via sub (rear-naked choke)
Welterweight: Kevin Jousset bt. Kiefer Crosbie via R1 submission (rear-naked choke)
What’s next? Noche UFC, headlined by Alexa Grasso (c) vs. Valentina Shevchenko 2 for the women’s flyweight title this weekend on September 16 – build-up to that compelling Fight Night card coming tomorrow.
Picture source: Getty Images, numbers and figures via UFCstats
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