The "Mystery" Of Sean Strickland's Historic Upset Explained

I’m not gonna lie: as a combat sports fan, I’ve been feeling rather spoiled lately.

From UFC 292: Aljamain Sterling vs Sean O’Malley and The Korean Zombie’s retirement fight; to Ciryl Gane’s explosive comeback and, of course, UFC 293: Israel Adesanya vs Sean Strickland (despite my premature assertions about the latter), it’s been a steady procession of memorable bangers.

And this coming weekend on Mexican Independence Day, we’re about to be served UFC Fight Night: Alexa Grasso vs Valentina Shevchenko II (also known as Noche UFC) — yet another highly-anticipated title fight, and for some reason… it’s not even a pay-per-view event (UFC Fight Pass/Kayo subscribers rejoice!).

Bonus: anyone who missed out on 7X-ing their money on Sean Strickland might get a second chance with something similar (read more below).

— GL

An Expert Breakdown Of How Sean Strickland Pulled Off That Major Upset

In the days after the dust of Sydney’s UFC 293 settled, there’s been plenty of chatter about just how Sean Strickland (28-5), a man who the vast majority had counted out, managed to make an elite kickboxer and dominant champion in Israel Adesanya (24-3) look so… ordinary. Especially when the stakes were so damn high.

The conversation has ranged from Adesanya having an “off night” — and not even being close to the height of his much-vaunted powers — to conspiracy theories about The Last Stylebender taking a dive.

But Strickland’s Xtreme Couture teammate, fellow UFC middleweight, The Man Dance podcast co-host, and close friend Chris “The Actionman” Curtis (30-10) has provided the most logical explanation yet.

“That was the same Izzy. Here’s the thing — God, I sound like Sean [Laughs.],” said Chris Curtis during his recent appearance on Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour.

“If you watch Sean spar anybody, it goes very similar to that… Every time someone has their first rounds with Sean, it goes exactly this way. Where people are like, ‘What the hell is going on?’”

“Everybody’s like, ‘Oh Izzy looked off.’ I’ve seen this a thousand times… when you initially run into him, you are just confused.”

“I always laugh. Everything he does is on paper wrong. It’s not the way you’re supposed to move. But he moves weird, he throws weird, he goes for Kung Fu blocks. He’s really good at shutting things you’re supposed to be good at.”

Curtis added: “You hear at one point Izzy say, ‘I can’t find my jab.’ It’s hard to find your jab against Sean because he creates so much random traffic with his jab. Or when you start jabbing, he’s parrying weird, he’s Kung Fu blocking.”

“If I go jab and you just parry my jab away, a lot of people stop the combo. I just had this talk with people a few days ago. People aren’t great at continuing combos once they’ve been interrupted, and Sean interrupts everything.”

“So I’ve seen people have this same like, ‘What the hell’s going on?’ every time they spar Sean at first. I’ve seen it happen for years. So all that bulls**t about ‘Izzy looked different,’ like no. You look confused like I looked confused and like everyone else looks confused when they spar Sean.”

Whether Israel Adesanya and the team over at Eugene Bareman’s City Kickboxing Gym will be able to adapt their next gameplan to Sean Strickland’s wildly unorthodox style is something we’ll watch with great interest.

We’re Still Not Quite Sold On Raul Rosas Jr… 6X Your Money Betting Against Him This Weekend

If you missed out on cashing in on Sean Strickland’s tasty 7-to-1 odds against Israel Adesanya at UFC 293, fear not: an equally tantalising opportunity has presented itself ahead of UFC Fight Night: Alexa Grasso vs Valentina Shevchenko II.

Some of you may be familiar with Raul Rosas Jr (7-1), the UFC’s youngest-ever signee who inked a contract with the world’s leading MMA promotion at the tender age of 17; recording his first win inside the Octagon against career journeyman Jay Perrin (11-7) at 18.

There was considerable excitement surrounding the Mexican prodigy, whose superb grappling, youthful enthusiasm, and willingness to throw down won over fans immediately. Of course, this was before the hype train was swiftly derailed by Christian Rodriguez (9-1) at UFC 287.

In this particular bout, the teen sensation proved entirely one-dimensional, exhausting himself with failed takedown after failed takedown — Rodriguez’s defensive grappling wasn’t exactly spectacular either, mind you — refusing to adjust the gameplan despite being used as a human speedbag, and showcasing a concerning (though not entirely unanticipated) lack of experience.

After three rounds of lacklustre action from El Nino Problema, and ceding the unanimous decision to Rodriguez, many — present company included — smelled another Sage Northcutt situation. “Perhaps he’d been called to the big leagues just a tad early,” was the general consensus.

Now granted, it’s been almost half a year since UFC 287, and there’s every chance Raul Rosas Jr has learned his lesson, evolving for the better. But he certainly has his work cut out for him with the infinitely more seasoned, more well-rounded, and famously aggressive Terrence Mitchell (14-3).

While Mitchell is coming off a nasty TKO loss against South Africa’s undefeated Cameron Saaiman (9-0), it’s worth noting that a) he’ll want to prove himself, and b) every single one of his professional wins has been via finish. The Terr-Bear doesn’t leave anything to the judges.

Should it go to the ground, Rosas Jr will be able to hold his own, sure, maybe even lock up a submission. Every minute spent on their feet and trading, however, will prove dangerous to the younger man.

For whatever reason (residual hype?), Terrence Mitchell is paying $6 to Raul Rosas Jr’s $1.13. So do with that information what you will.

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