Sean Strickland will look to snatch the middleweight belt away from Israel Adesanya in the main event at UFC 293 in Australia.
We are going to take a closer look at the whirlwind that is Sean Strickland and discuss whether he is unholy, or unhinged.
Being tasked with writing a creative piece on Sean Strickland is like being asked to catch water in a cup… whilst standing in the sea. It’s easy to grab the water, there’s just so much to choose from that it’s hard to know which bit to grab.
So we’ll start with a quick character assessment one which even a professional psychiatrist would have a hard time with…
Sean Strickland is a genius. I know right, now you think that I’m out of my mind too, but stay with me here.
Sean Strickland – Violence or Vocals?
Sean Strickland will challenge Israel Adesanya for the middleweight title this weekend. His path to a title shot goes as follows; a knockout loss to Alex Pereira in the first round, a split-decision loss to Jared Cannonier in one of the most boring fights we have ever witnessed, a points win at light-heavyweight against Nassourdine Imavov and a KO win last time out, against unranked Abusupiyan Magomedov.
Hardly the most eye-catching run to the title we have ever seen. So how is he fighting for the title? Well, it’s simple really. Sean Strickland is a great talker. Now of course, he is a very capable fighter, that cannot be questioned but it isn’t what he does inside the allotted time of his fights whether it be 15 or 25 minutes that grabs the headlines. It is what he says. What he says in interviews, what he says in the build-up to a fight, what he says on the microphone should he be victorious.
It isn’t too often that any of us have ever walked away from a Sean Strickland fight talking about how incredibly exciting it was. What we do end up doing, is talking about what Sean Strickland said.
So has Sean Strickland fought his way to a title shot? Or has he talked his way to a title shot? Perhaps a little bit of both? Either way, Sean now has his shot at the gold and the chance to change his life forever.
Love or Loath?
Sean Strickland certainly divides opinions. You could refer to him as ‘Marmite’. Some love him, some loath him but we are all going to be talking about him this week. Sean makes some outlandish comments and I would be remiss if I didn’t state that I certainly don’t agree with a lot of them. Yet, there is a huge fanbase out there that adore Sean Strickland and everything that he stands for. Whether you agree, or disagree with his comments, he is absolutely value for money. He is a media’s dream.
Take a look at what the talk is in the build-up to this fight. Have you once heard anybody say that they can’t wait for this fight? No. Have you heard this a lot instead? ‘I can’t wait for the press conference’…? Exactly, because Sean provides more entertainment for us outside of the cage than he does inside it and this isn’t me knocking him.
Sean’s fight style is a very jab-heavy, decision-heavy, risk-averting style. It’s effective but it lacks charisma. His talking strategy on the other hand, is quite the opposite. It is full of low blows and illegal knees, ear bites and risk-taking and that is what we all love.
Is Sean Strickland Really a Company Man?
With the bizarre things that Sean says, you would be insane to say he was a company man, right? Well let’s be honest, the UFC don’t have to share Sean’s views on things. They don’t need to like everything he says. What they do need is viewers and money. Something which Sean absolutely provides. His comments draw eyes and attention, and with eyes and attention comes money.
On top of that, Strickland’s win over Imavov at light-heavyweight was only at that weight because Sean stepped in at as a last-minute opponent. A favour, you could say, to the UFC. He then bizarrely headlined a fight night against Magomedov, an unranked fighter, which I’m sure wasn’t necessarily who he wanted to fight. Then, when Dricus Du Plessis announced that he was out of the running to be next to face the champion, Strickland stepped up. Not just for a shot at the title but for the travel to Australia where he will no doubt be heavily taxed and will have to face Israel Adesanya in near-enough to his backyard.
Will Strickland Become King?
What a thought! Can you imagine a version of Sean Strickland with the gold around his waist? It would be intolerable for some, and the rest of us would absolutely lap it up.
I am not speaking out of turn when I say that Sean is a huge underdog in this fight. Most would concede that they expect Izzy to win and possibly by knockout.
Is it a foregone conclusion? Of course not. Sean is, as I said before, extremely effective. He has a solid grappling game, which is a weakness that we have seen from Adesanya in the past. Sean will tell the media all week that he is going to go toe-to-toe with Izzy. Will he actually do it? I would suggest not. He tried that against Alex Pereira and ended up flat on his back. Sean is going to try and make this fight ugly and there is a path to victory, whether people like to admit it or not. Is it a long shot? Yes. Is it possible? Maybe.
Sean Strickland may be getting a shot at the title because there is nobody else left. He may be getting a shot at the title because he is an entertaining talker but like it or not, he’s getting a shot at the title.
The title of this article is unholy or unhinged. Sean Strickland may be both of them but we’re all sure to tune in.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
