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Sean Strickland is scheduled to take part in the biggest fight of his career this Saturday when he steps inside the octagon to face Israel Adesanya for the UFC middleweight title at UFC 293. Ahead of their bout, fans and fighters alike have predicted a comfortable win in Adesanya's favor, and with good reason.
Strickland doesn't seem to present any obvious threats to 'The Last Stylebender.' He isn't as good a striker, at least on paper, and lacks the kind of knockout power to any of the strikes he does land count. Furthermore, he isn't an elite grappler who can punish Adesanya's perceived wrestling and grappling weakness.
That, however, does not mean that he has no path to victory, as during a recent media day scrum, Sean Strickland outlined his plan (at 17:52 minutes) to beat Israel Adesanya and referenced Kelvin Gastelum's war with the middleweight kingpin as a source of inspiration:
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"You know, man, I just gotta embrace my inner Kelvin Gastelum, and just go nose to nose, d*ck to d*ck, I think we all know that. You don't wanna stand at range with Izzy, you wanna f***ing go toe to toe, make it a war, make it a dog-fight and accept that you either win or you get knocked out."
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Watch the presser below:
Whether Sean Strickland successfully forces Israel Adesanya into an uglier fight than the former kickboxer is accustomed to remains to be seen, but it may very well be his best chance at victory. Should he win, it would undoubtedly be one of the greatest upsets, akin to Michael Bisping's win over Luke Rockhold.
What is Sean Strickland's record against UFC champions?
Sean Strickland has a respectable record of 27 wins and five losses. In the 32 bouts he's taken part in, 'Tarzan' has faced two titleholders in the UFC before their championship reigns. He faced Kamaru Usman back in 2017 during his welterweight days at UFC 210.
It was a lopsided loss that even saw Strickland suffer a knockdown. His other bout against a champion came against Alex Pereira, which ended with 'Tarzan' famously getting knocked out. Thus far, he is 0-2 against future champions but will look to have a moment of fortune against a reigning champion at UFC 293.
