Kamaru Usman shares eye-opening advice for Dricus du Plessis ahead of rematch against Sean Strickland at UFC 312: “Just can’t land a flush shot” 

Kamaru Usman, who later became one of the greatest welterweight champions, handed Sean Strickland his second loss in the promotion, at UFC 210. Following the loss, Strickland fought thrice at welterweight before a motorcycle accident forced a move up.

In the recent episode of Pound 4 Pound podcast with co-host Henry Cejudo, Usman shared advise for Dricus du Plessis, who will defend his middleweight title against Sean Strickland at UFC 312.

Aheaf of UFC 210, Usman was training under Henri Hooft in Florida and the veteran coach advised his fighter to target Strickland's body rather than the head. He pointed to 'Tarzan's' upright stance, making it difficult for anyone to land a clean shot on Strickland's head.

'The Nigerian Nightmare' noted that Dricus du Plessis tried to land headshots on Strickland at UFC 297, but failed. He said:

"When I fought Sean Strickland, and this was something that the (coach) great Henry Hooft, kind of we, were able to see and break down is don’t try to hit his head. Don’t swing for his head. And you saw that. If we run this clip back, you will see the exchanges where Dricus is, see he's trying to hit his head, and you just can't hit his head."

"Because when Sean is upright in his stance and he leans back, you just can't land a flush shot at his head. Because of that style, it's very, very difficult to hit him in the face. So what we did, we focused on his body. You know, I went to his body. But then, obviously, you mix it up, and you go for the takedowns as well. And that makes it a lot easier to get to a guy like Sean Strickland," Usman added.

Check out Kamaru Usman's comments about Sean Strickland below (3:58):

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Kamaru Usman explains why leg kicks won't work against Sean Strickland

When Sean Strickland was announced as the opponent for Israel Adesanya at UFC 293, nobody expected the American to spring an upset, aside from a minority like Caio Borralho, who accurately predicted how the fight would go.

The consensus was that Adesanya, one of the best kickboxers ever, would use his leg kicks to reap benefits. However, 'The Last Stylebender' couldn't do it and Strickland won the fight dominantly, even dropping the then-champion in the first round.

In the aforementioned podcast, Usman explained why leg kicks won't work against Strickland despite his upright fight stance.

"Kicking his leg is very, very difficult to kick Sean Strickland's legs. Very, very difficult because he lifts it. He's constantly lifting the leg, he's constantly walking forward. So it makes it very difficult to be able to time that and really deliver a good kick," Kamaru Usman said [4:53 onwards in the above podcast].

Usman giving major praise to Sean Strickland's defensive ability makes Alex Pereira's victory at UFC 276 all the more impressive. Pereira effectively utilized his leg kicks and even landed his signature left hook flush on the American.