Many fight fans will not remember the run of the former middleweight champion and considerable losses at 170 pounds
Sean Strickland will have his Octagon return this Saturday evening to UFC 312, where he will look to become two -time middleweight champions in Australia.
The 22-Fight UFC veteran has achieved an incredible success in recent years on 185 pounds, where it really came into his own as a top hunter.
This run that started in 2020 has brought him back to Dricus du Plessis, the current middle weight champion, while the two rivals are watching to clash the title for the second time.
The unique style of Strickland is perhaps incredibly effective in the middleweight, but it took him some time to reach these heights after a somewhat forgotten run in good weight, where he suffered a number of difficult setbacks.
Photo by Buda Mendes/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC
Sean Strickland Leed Wheel Kick Ko in 2018
After having started his career in the UFC as a middleweight, Sean Strickland fell to Welterweight, where he went 4-2 in May 2018 to UFC 244.
He was never ready in his career at this point, despite the fact that he suffers two losses from Santiago Ponzinibbio and Kamaru Usman in the Octagon.
That changed when he locked Horns with Brazili's Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos who rode a four-fighter win racing when he joined the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro.
With 90 seconds left in the opening round, DOS Santos landed a huge rotating wheel shovel to drop Strickland before he followed with strikes to force the referee.
The highlights of the highlights did not earn a performance bonus that is not necessarily surprising, given that this was the night where Lyoto Machida Vorror Belfort was chosen in his last UFC fight at the front.
Sean Strickland changes his tune on du plessis call out
Sean Strickland wanted to wage war with Dricus du Plessis in their first meeting at UFC 297 and although most of the fight was disputed on the feet, it did not stop the South African from shooting for different Takedowns.
The challenger has changed thoughts about their upcoming Rematch, knowing that 'Stillnocks' will probably look to constantly vary his approach to have his opponent guessed.
Strickland told MMA Junkie's Mike Bohn prior to Fight Week that he does not cherish a resort against Du Plessis to implement a number of gripping fairs the last time they fought and he is ready again on 8 February.
“I talk a lot about S *** Bro, but I don't give ***, you can struggle everything you want to struggle,” said Strickland.
“It's funny to talk about S ***, it's funny for One-Liners, but you are an MMA hunter and I am an MMA hunter.
“You want to grab f ***** my legs, you want to cuddle f ****** on the floor, F ****** go completely.”
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