Within and even outside the combat sports circle, Sean Strickland is famous as an unhinged personality. His common swipes on various peers often set the stage for some heated to-and-fro barbs. Yet, if and when they meet in the octagon (like in UFC 302), ‘Tarzan’ mostly comes out victorious. Some are wishing for a different course of action.
Former UFC titleholder Luke Rockhold recently sat with co-hosts Bear Degidio and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson on the ‘JAXXON’ Podcast. He gibed down Strickland’s brash personality in the harshest terms. TJ Dillashaw, a frequent guest on the podcast, took shots at Strickland’s opponents for not engaging in a striking contest. Dillashaw called it the ‘run on bike’ strategy.
Yeah, man [I like his style]…I like that he comes forward he’s going to bring you the fight…like the fight will be entertaining if someone’s willing to fight back…if you’re going to be a lil’ bit*h and run on your bike…He [Paulo] fought like a bit*h…Paulo Costa said it himself after the fight. He’s like, ‘I need to bite down on my mouthpiece and throw some fu*king punches’…
TJ Dillashaw via the ‘JAXXON’ Podcast
Strickland outlasted Paulo Costa by a split decision in this past Saturday’s feature co-mains at Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. The “split” scorecard confused many, including head honcho Dana White. What many considered would be unanimous scoring turned out otherwise (46-49, 50-45, 49-46). Despite slow running, the 33-year-old dominated thoroughly.
Though the blokes have a good laugh, taking the mickey out of each other, the point stands. Sean Strickland either shells himself over the shoulder or distances himself with mid-range kicks and jabs. His lack of rhythm confuses the opponent. His title upset against Israel Adesanya came similarly, although much more one-sided. Hence, Dillashaw wishes somebody would fight back.
Sean Strickland vs. Paulo Costa does not sit well with Henry Cejudo
Much akin to the ESPN MMA Good Guy/Bad Guy Podcast, Pound 4 Pound Podcast is the new talk of the town. Former champs Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo deliberate on a multitude of topics and fight events on their MMA weekly show. Not much on the horizon is as big a topic as the UFC 302 PPV event of this past weekend.
Henry Cejudo pokes holes at Sean Strickland’s performance at UFC 302 (Source: Instagram/IMAGO)To that end, Cejudo did not like the Sean Strickland vs. Paulo Costa “snoozefest,” as he calls it. The Xtreme Couture MMA standout went boxing-heavy, thumping down and charging around the octagon in marches and jabs and kicks. Costa couldn’t attune himself or break the opponent’s guard. But unlike the boys over at the ‘JAXXON’ Podcast, ‘Triple C’ blames it much on Strickland as well.
This fight disappointed a lot of people, …They were just too friendly, man. It’s almost better to have a little bit of animosity. They were just trying to be homies,…to be friends…There’s too much respect in there inside the cage, because nobody wanted to necessarily lose to each other because they’re both trolls, that the fight just ended up – the last 17 seconds of that fight is what gave the roar, but other than that, the fight was a snoozefest.
Henry Cejudo via the Pound 4 Pound with Kamaru Usman & Henry Cejudo Podcast
Costa (14-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) opted to swivel out of the hitbox from Strickland’s unfathomable motion and march to follow with a striking clinic. Usman does give him the benefit of the doubt, saying he had good expletive body shots when he opened up a few times.
Both Cejudo and Costa train under coach Eric Albarracin. The duo maintains a friendship, with the Brazilian middleweight even staying with the former Olympian champ. Before UFC 302, Cejudo had warned Costa to apply a mixed bag of talents to Stricklands’ weirdly effective standup game. Strickland himself put the blame on Costa for not delivering on their “war;” Cejudo pins them both, wanting to see more heat from the two.
