Sean Strickland pulled off something few thought possible last Saturday night: He fundamentally dismantled Israel Adesanya.
Few saw it coming as Strickland is essentially a 1-2 with some lean back head movement, while Adesanya can be an aggressive counter-striker and tepid low-kicker with an ability to find an opening to starch his opponents. His feints often leave his opponent’s frozen, all topped with the cherry of beautiful and often flashy technique. With both of their fights with Pereira still fresh in the minds of most, many thought a similar fate awaited Strickland here. Instead, Strickland was able to maintain his usual game, but modify it (under the guidance of Eric Nicksick) just enough to give loads of trouble to Adesanya.
In many ways it runs parallel to another shocking win that occurred just a few weeks ago. Dricus du Plessis shocked the hell out of me when he knocked out another all-time great middleweight in Robert Whittaker. So what is the parallel?
Both Strickland and Du Plessis are somewhat ugly and unathletic in different ways, and they were facing off against fighters known for their technical excellence and domination among the rest of the division. How did they do it? With tactics. Your opponent might be stronger and faster than you, and they might have perfect technique, but with the right approach you can shut them down.
Disclaimer: The video clips included in this article are not owned by the author. They are included for educational purposes only to illustrate key moments in the fighter’s career and demonstrate aspects of mixed martial arts techniques and strategies. All rights to the video content belong to their respective owners.
Sean Strickland Motherfuckers
My friend and I were going absolutely insane during this fight. It wasn’t a barnburner by any means. The sole moment of EXCITEMENT in the fight was Strickland’s knockdown of Adesanya, which was a 1-2 that landed perfectly as Izzy attempted to counter with the left hook.
Though Strickland didn’t get him out of there, it certainly set the precedent for the rest of the fight.
Few (including me) were picking him to win. Given Adesanya’s ability to force counters, it seemed like Strickland’s over-reactions to feints and shallow pool of weapons wouldn’t be able to trouble Adesanya. How wrong we were. Israel Adesanya is a man who likes to land clean, single strikes. He doesn’t often throw in combination, instead disguising singular strikes between a barrage of feints. Adesanya’s feinting is contingent upon his ability to threaten the opponent with his jab, low kicks, and front kick up the middle. Without these threats his offensive capability is severely limited. Strickland was able to nullify Adesanya’s offense by doing what he always does (always moving forward, throwing 1-2’s, ample head movement), and adding a few key tools and adjustments tailored to perfectly counter Adesanya’s game.
Philly Shell & the 1-2
Strickland’s Philly Shell gained a lot of attention. It is more languid than Mayweather’s, certainly, but it got the job done. Adesanya’s penchant for straight hitting and single shots made Stricklands Philly Shell an optimal defensive reaction.
Strickland parried Adesanya’s initial punches, and then got down behind his lead shoulder for the follow-up punches.
Strickland’s combination of ducking behind his shoulder, head movement, and love of hand-fighting meant that Israel was not able to consistently jab Strickland. Without the threat of his jab Adesanya was not able to comfortably commit to other strikes or follow Strickland out of the pocket. Rather than try and switch his approach, Adesanya doubled down on trying to land his jab. His fist either met air or Strickland swatting it away.
When Adesanya did decide to throw other strikes, they were obviously desperate. Adesanya’s counter left hook to Strickland’s 1-2 was met with Strickland’s right hand splattered across his face and his ass hitting the canvas.
While Adesanya struggled to find his opponent, Strickland’s jab was hitting the mark. Stricklands energy-efficient forward movement had Adesanya’s back to the cage for almost the entirety of the fight. Though Adesanya is one of the best at moving laterally along the cage to get off, he was stuck doing it the entire fight.
Izzy was constantly moving laterally, throwing strikes to get off the cage, and Strickland simply walked him down. Strickland is already a cardio machine, but his conservative movement only adds to his ability to consistently pressure without tiring.
Strickland would often wait for Adesanya to slow his movement, and calmly poke out his jab as Adesanya moved his head.
His jab kept Adesanya on the fence, and rather than attempt any other sort of offense, Adesanya became enamored with landing his jab. Also love the end of this sequence where Strickland traps Adesanya’s hands, feints the teep and sneaks his rear hand through instead.
It wouldn’t always hit, but it certainly hit enough to cause a small hematoma under the eye of the champion. Strickland was consistent with the 1-2 but occasionally opened up when he felt he had stunned Adesanya enough to warrant it.
Strickland keeps the jab in Adesanya’s face even mid-combination to maintain his distance and dissuade the counter.
Otherwise, he never over swung and always stayed in his stance. Due to his Philly Shell, straight hitting, and composure, he was prepared to defend Adesanya’s front kick, question mark kick, and own straight hitting. Not only that, his measured consistency rarely gave Adesanya the opportunity to hit his big counter shots. Strickland never committed enough to allow Adesanya this opportunity.
The final piece of Strickland’s punching that fit perfectly into his pressure fighting game plan was his use of the double jab. Adesanya has been known to struggle with the double jab in the past. He was backed up with it multiple times in his rematch with Marvin Vettori. Instead of dropping on the hips after double-jabbing, Strickland used it to back Adesanya up against the cage. Every single time Adesanya moved straight back.
He was able to capitalize with a rear hand afterwards that would stun his retreating opponent.
Stricklands patient straight hitting and defense built by hours upon hours of sparring served him well in his championship winning performance.
Strickland’s Leg Raise
The more Strickland kept Adesanya’s hands occupied, the more he opened the way for his body kick.
My favorite part of Strickland’s performance was his kick/kick defense game. All he had to do was:
1. Teep
2. Check low kicks
With just these actions, Strickland was able to shut down Izzy’s kicking game, keep him on the back foot, and tire him over the course of the fight.
Excluding the knockdown, Strickland’s heaviest weapon this fight was his teep / front kick to the body.
The best way to hit someone with great movement is to hit them in the body. Their body doesn’t move as quickly as their head, and the continuation of shots to the midsection will tire them out, hindering their movement as the fight goes. The more Strickland dug his toes into Adesanya’s body, the slower he became at evading along the fence, and the more labored his movements became.
Strickland set the precedent to teep early on in the fight, and only increased its use the more uncomfortable Adesanya became with it. While damaging, it had the added benefit of slotting perfectly into his pressure fighting performance. Save moving out to the side, most seek to take the sting off a teep with a move backwards and catch.
The teep kept backing him up, and before he started moving he was attempting to parry it. This was such a bother to Adesanya, he felt he had to go in the well and throw a telegraphed high kick to keep Strickland off.
Strickland caught Adesanya’s early on, but the champion kept letting Strickland’s foot dig into his gut.
Adesanya would move straight back every time it hit, putting him right back against the cage. The teep served well to bring him there, but it also helped keep him there. When Adesanya would move his head in anticipation of Strickland’s punches, he would simply throw his kick into Adesanya’s body and keep him along the fence.
The teep became a tool that perfectly blended with Strickland’s defense throughout the entire fight. Just as Adesanya requires his jab to build his offense, the same is true of his low kicks. In his more tepid performances, even the one with Romero, Adesanya uses the low kick as his primary point scorer. It dissuades opponent’s from coming in, hinders their movement, and the long-range weapon keeps him safe. What did Strickland do to prevent the low kick?
He either raised his leg or got it out of the way entirely. Though somewhat unbalanced on one foot, Strickland was able to check just about every kick by Adesanya by awkwardly imitating a Nak Muay. It wasn’t perfect but it WORKED, and Adesanya did not know how to get around it.
Even as Adesanya began to open up more desperately, Strickland stuck to the plan and kept pushing him back to the fence with his teep.
Now the pieces have been set, and Strickland could merely raise his leg and elicit a reaction from Adesanya. Again like a Nak Muay, Strickland did the Muay Thai March to back Adesanya up to the cage. He couldn’t kick, lest it get checked, and if he did nothing he would likely get teeped again. Strickland could raise the leg to safely pressure forward pressure behind the threat of a long range weapon.
Strickland’s interplay between the teep, its feint, and leg kicking were beautiful. They allowed Strickland to safely work Adesanya’s body from a distance, pressure him towards the cage, and defend against Adesanya’s primary weapon. Though his tools were few, their uses were many.
This sequence is a great microcosm for the dynamic of the fight:
Strickland attempts to find Adesanya with his jab, who is constantly moving his head, and darts off to the side. Strickland calmly walks him down, expending very little energy. He paws Adesanya’s hands from the outside, and starts raising his knee to feint the teep / defend potential leg kicks. Strickland ends the sequence throwing the teep with Adesanya against the cage and opening up as he tries to escape. Strickland’s consistency truly gave Adesanya trouble.
So what did Strickland have this fight? He had a 1-2, consistent forward movement, head movement, and a teep. He only did a couple of things throughout the entire fight and he was MADDENINGLY consistent. It was one of my favorite things about the performance. Even when Adesanya landed a good shot or got off the fence, he went right back to tapping his toes into Izzy’s body, double jabbing, and keeping Izzy against the cage. He wasn’t flustered by Izzy’s feints or lateral movement along the cage. He knew it was coming and knew that no matter what, what he was doing was working. Small moments from Izzy did not change that. The teep and jabs kept landing, and the few times he opened up he got Izzy’s attention. Despite being the less athletic and dynamic fighter, Strickland had a PROCESS tailored to his opponent. Congratulations to your new UFC Middleweight Champion.
Dricus du Plessis
Dricus is interesting, as he isn’t a flawed fighter in the same way Strickland is. Strickland is a somewhat limited by his toolkit and explosiveness but has a great gas tank. Dricus du Plessis is strong and powerful, but looks absolutely wooden when he strikes and often has middling technical execution. Even though his fighting style seems balls to the wall, forced, and not well thought out, his post-fight interviews tell a different story (everything pre-staredown):
He is certainly a fighter who studies film, is aware of his opponent’s flaws, and looking to bring weapons that will exploit them. In this fight, everything was centered around the aforementioned southpaw jab.
Dricus circling to get the outside angle on his southpaw jab.
On the outside, Dricus stepped-up into the open-side body kick.
Attritive work is always a good idea. The intent however, was to keep Whittaker moving out towards du Plessis’ right. As Whittaker would move, this would put him in line for Dricus to fire his jab over the top. Though the finish did not come from a body kick, it kept Whittaker aware of the threat and moving towards Dricus’ right hand.
A leg kick is thrown here, but same exact concept applies.
Du Plessis’ jab was not faster nor more accurate in most instances than Whittaker.
However, Dricus knew that his opponent had trouble with it, and was able to exploit this during this fight. Robert Whittaker is also a fighter who favors straight hitting: his patented combination being the 1-2-headkick. Though by no means a defensive master, Dricus still had an IDEA of how to defend Whittaker’s straight hitting. When all else fails, put up the high guard and move backwards.
Dricus is even circling out in anticipation of the Whittaker head kick (probably . . . maybe)
Though this is an easily exploited defense, Dricus interspersed his defense trading jabs with Whittaker. This is where the southpaw jab really shined.
Whittaker’s jab often comes up from his waist. It surprises opponents because of this upward angle, coming in where they cannot see.
Whittaker hit him clean here, but he did not let that dissuade him.
Dricus adjusted his jab so that it would come in straighter, and over the top of Whittaker’s. This allowed both his shoulder to get in the way of Whittaker’s jab, and his hit the target before Whittaker’s.
The beginning of the end.
Whittaker often steps in hard with his jab, and this momentum carried him into Dricus’ jab, which was thrown straighter. Dricus had been looking for this, and landing it throughout the fight. When his moment came to close the show he pounced on it. A shocking performance where he consistently found his jab and showed a clear grappling advantage, Dricus announced himself as the next contender.
The Matchup
With Adesanya having been 1-2 in his last three title fights, Strickland vs. du Plessis is the most meritocratic fight to make in the middleweight division. Both fighters are coming off of the biggest upset wins of their career, and are each flawed fighters in their own right. With Strickland’s route approach and Dricus flailing his way to success, its hard for me to think of how a fight between the two would go. Dricus has the strength to take Strickland down and is quite a crafty grappler. Strickland himself isn’t the easiest man to take down and his fundamental prowess with his 1-2 and head movement would likely give Dricus trouble on the feet. Given Strickland’s recent penchant for listening to his coaches, and tailoring his gameplans to his opponent’s I would slightly favor him. As we have seen this weekend though, anything can happen in this sport, especially at the heavier weight classes. If not a technical masterclass, rest assured these two spoilers will put on an incredibly entertaining fight.
Final Thoughts
Sloppy, unathletic, low-IQ, not technical. Say whatever you will about these fighters. Despite any shortcomings, they won fights against two all-time great fighters in the history of their weight-class. They didn’t do it by being the most athletic, faster, strong, or by having perfect technique. They assessed their opponent’s habits and brought tools to exploit those habits. You don’t always need to be BETTER than your opponent. You simply need to win.
I find these performances inspiring. I am not someone who looks with scorn and envy towards the genetically gifted winners. I love when a fighter can leverage his athleticism, any ATHLETE would be stupid not to. I think most fighters should prioritize a strength and conditioning program to increase their athletic ability. However, when someone who is not the most gifted can find a way to win at the elite level, and shock the world . . . what could be more inspiring. The very spirit of humanity is built upon how we are a species constantly overcoming our perceived limitations. We can laugh at how silly of a weight class 185 is and blame the losers for slowing down from the greatest heights, but these performances were special. Two men who nobody ever expected to reach the apex of fight sport utilizing grit and tactics tailored to their opponents to overcome their weaknesses.
That is why I love combat sports. They are the most honest and brutal window into the human soul. Are you going to complain about your genetics all day, or are you going to go out there and work?
I love your breakdowns - I was also shocked by the Strickland performance but what an inspiring win. Just goes to show how consistently doing something well pays big dividends.