Tense and competitive, but the same result: Israel Adesanya defended his middleweight crown a fourth time, this time against an old foe in determined former champion Robert Whittaker. He then called for a June title defence against ‘fresh meat’ in the form of Jared Cannonier, who recovered from first-round adversity himself to convincingly end Derek Brunson’s title hopes.
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Tag: Sean Strickland
UFC Vegas 47: Strickland outworks hesitant Hermansson, calls for Adesanya-Whittaker winner
He apologised for letting the pressure get to him, ‘fighting like a chump’ in his own words, but Sean Strickland’s winning streak improved to six as he exposed Jack Hermansson’s gameplan en route to a split decision win. Elsewhere, there were contrasting wins for welterweight prospect Shavkat Rakhmonov and TUF middleweight winner Bryan Battle among others.
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UFC Vegas 47: Jack Hermansson targets early-but-perfect display vs. Sean Strickland
After rebounding from his Fight of the Night loss by Marvin Vettori with a UD win against Edmen Shahbazyan last May, #6 ranked middleweight contender Jack Hermansson is looking for a statement performance this weekend – ending Sean Strickland’s impressive streak at 185lbs – which he believes will help propel him into the stakes for title contention once more. Continue reading
UFC Vegas 33: Strickland’s super striking breaks records as he eases past Hall
Although he was understandably critical of his display in the post-fight presser, Sean Strickland broke a record for most significant strikes in a UFC middleweight fight (186) en route to a dominant decision main event win (50-44, 50-45, 49-46) over former training partner Uriah Hall. Continue reading
UFC Vegas 33: Sean Strickland keen to solve the Uriah Hall puzzle in main event
On a rare weekend overshadowed by Bellator’s featherweight title main event, this is far from a sexy main event on paper but Uriah Hall (#9) vs Sean Strickland (#11) feels like a middleweight matchup with implications aplenty for both – especially considering the latter has won four straight and will be targeting the top guns should he pass this latest acid test at 185lbs. Will he? Continue reading
UFC Vegas 25: Jiri Prochazka viciously flattens Dominick Reyes in title eliminator
Rising light-heavyweight Jiri Prochazka (#5) handed two-time title challenger Dominick Reyes (#3) his third straight loss with a second-round spinning back elbow knockout – the third in UFC history – asserting his credentials as a genuine title contender at 205lbs. Before a chaotic main event, there were big wins for Georgian duo Giga Chikadze and Merab Dvalishvili among others.
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UFC Vegas 14: Rafael dos Anjos makes triumphant lightweight return, beats Paul Felder
There was to be no fairytale story ending on five days’ notice for Paul Felder, as former champion Rafael dos Anjos made a triumphant return to the lightweight division with an impressive split decision victory in a Fight of the Night main event matchup. Beforehand, welterweight Khaos Williams lived up to the billing with a 30-second KO in the co-main event. Continue reading