Sean Strickland, Weirdo Defensive Maestro

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight kingpin, Sean Strickland, seeks the first defense of his new crown opposite power-punching South African, Dricus Du Plessis, this Saturday (Jan. 20, 2024) at UFC 297 inside Scotiabank Center in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Love him or hate him, there is no arguing Strickland as unique … and I’m not even talking about the boxer’s “hot takes” and wacky public statements. The champion is a man who stands and moves in a way that few coaches (except this one) would ever endorse, yet he’s also one of the statistically most difficult men to hit in the sport. There are clips of him reacting terribly to his opponent’s offense — how many times did he let Abus Magomedov kick him cleanly in the first five minutes?!? — and yet, it all works out a large majority of the time. The sole man to have success in really breaking through Strickland’s check-and-parry system is Alex Pereira, who has quickly built an argument as the best striker in mixed martial arts (MMA) history.

Nobody fights like Sean Strickland. Let’s take a closer look at his skill set:

Striking

Strickland is a model of consistency, a man who brings the same weapons and game plan into just about every fight. The Israel Adesanya fight isn’t quite an exception, but it featured some noticeable improvements from the champion, so let’s first establish the norm then look at what changed in his title-winning performance.

A boxer first and foremost, Strickland has demonstrated a solid jab since his UFC career started. He’s still using that probing strike to find his distance and do damage, but Strickland’s hands have been noticeably looser since moving to Middleweight. As a result, he’s really snapping the punch, which is why seemingly innocuous connections are bloodying up the nose and convincing his foes to back off. Strickland doubles up the jab well and will often follow with his right hand.

In his Middleweight run, Strickland has shown how he can employ his boxing skills in various situations. Against Brendan Allen, for example, Strickland did tremendous work from the back foot. Allen stalked his foe, looking to establish his own jab and kicks. The low calf kicks were definitely an issue — they usually are against a jabber like Strickland — but the Californian did do a nice job of intercepting Allen’s jab with his own. In addition, he helped avoid the low kicks by scoring a takedown off one early in the bout.

Having at least somewhat mitigated his foe’s primary range offense, Strickland was landing the better shots, encouraging Allen to push forward even harder. Despite his reputation for flat-footedness, Strickland actually changed directions really well once in the pocket. He’d wait for Allen to throw then evade at an angle, often stepping to his left behind a check left hook or intercepting right hook across the center line.

Allen landed some shots, but he consistently walked into harder ones while trying to force a scrap. Just as he started to pick up a bit of momentum with his low kicks, Strickland planted his feet and really sat on a counter two-three combination. Both punches landed clean, and Strickland swarmed hard to score the finish of a bright talent.

In his next bout, Strickland walked down Krzysztof Jotko the entire fight. Initially, Strickland was having trouble getting his jab going and walked into left hands, but he soon made smart adjustments. He began leading with his cross and following up with the left hook, which can often catch Southpaws blind.

Jotko was avoiding the pocket and staying evasive, which forced Strickland to kick more often. He first established a front kick up the middle with his right leg. Then, Strickland began targeting the lead calf with switch kicks. Throughout the second half of the fight, Strickland was lifting his knees in marching steps, keeping his foe confused on which strike was coming and helping him to land more and more significant calf kicks. The slower Jotko’s feet grew, the more Strickland touched him with punches.

The same weapons — mostly straight punches, some kicks mixed in — but applied very differently.

A highlight of Strickland’s kickboxing came when he defeated Uriah Hall primarily by out-jabbing “Prime Time,” which is no easy feat. Hall’s best weapon is his jab, a powerful tool that capitalizes on his massive reach. Despite this, Strickland was able to outwork him with his own lead hand for a number of reasons.

For one, Strickland was throwing more jabs. Hall’s jab is a piston, but Strickland was likely throwing three jabs for each of his opponents — the simple numbers game counts for quite a bit. In addition, Strickland was well-prepared for Hall’s jab, making the adjustment of sliding his right hand in front of his chin, keeping it there and ready to parry. As a result, he was able to fire back right away, further discouraging Hall from jabbing with him.

Many exchanges went something like this: Strickland flicked a jab, Hall attempted to answer with a power jab that was parried, and Strickland immediately fired back a jab or left hook of his own. Now, Strickland definitely got stung right on the nose a few times in the process, but winning the jab battle allowed him to keep Hall on his back foot and prevent many of his big swings before they happened.

Strickland’s defense has to be mentioned as a strength, even if it played into Alex Pereira’s hands. Strickland really excels at parrying punches and checking hands while advancing. Even when shots do land, he does good work in rolling with them, and in general is statistically one of the more difficult to hit men at 185 pounds. Unlike the vast majority of MMA fighters, Strickland is generally comfortable and competent at seeing punches in the pocket, likely a testament to the mass amounts of sparring Strickland tends to do.

Strickland’s ability to parry shots and fire back — on the counter or lead foot — is a core component of his game. It’s pretty much what makes Sean Strickland who he is as an athlete. Though adding takedowns into his attack would’ve been wise, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Strickland remained true to his style against Pereira. Going against elite opposition and only bringing one’s B game to the table is a difficult prospect, even if Pereira’s left hook demanded an adjustment.

Now, let’s talk about a historic weakness of Sean Strickland: kick defense. Strickland’s calf has been torn up by strikers like Brenden Allen, Abus Magomedov and Jared Cannonier. It’s partially his reliance on the jab, but it’s also the nature of his boxing-oriented yet somewhat flat-footed stance. Strickland’s side-on stance presents his shoulder to punches, but it also means he’s commonly blocking power kicks to the head and body with one arm, which is a great way for a high kick to slip through or a body kick to break a forearm.

That little paragraph is pretty much why I — and, in fairness, most everyone else — thought Adesanya would have his way with Strickland. The best low kicker in the division against a guy who cannot check low kicks? That doesn’t sound like rocket science!

Instead, Strickland and his camp adjusted. Strickland’s upright boxing stance was converted slightly to resemble more of an upright Muay Thai stance, and his lead knee was pointed a bit more forward rather than turned in. He upped the frequency of his lead leg snap kick to the body, which served as a distance finder, as well as a way to interrupt low kicks. That lift of the lead leg also served as a partial check if Adesanya did try to kick at the same time.

Pressure helps dissuade kicking in general as well. As Strickland began to close the distance closer to the pocket, “Stylebender” was less able to kick at will. He did a noticeably better job of cutting off the cage compared to previous performances, which was important for his overall success.

Finally, Strickland simply seemed well-prepared for Adesanya’s primary boxing attack: straight punches and the check left hook. Strickland’s ability to parry well countered the former, and sneaking his own right cross inside the check hook proved a nasty way to punish Adesanya’s preference for the fadeaway wild hook that has historically worked so well for him.

Wrestling

Strickland’s bouts tend to end up kickboxing battles more often than not. He’s definitely opportunistic with his ability to gain top position, looking to catch kicks and convert that moment into top position, where he’s known to do good damage.

Against Hall, Strickland was more active with his attempts to ground his opponent. He shot for a few double legs along the fence and did find an outside trip in the open, but much of his success came when Strickland was able to get behind Hall. From that position, Strickland dragged his foe down several times, even throwing in a hook standing to help trip his opponent to the canvas.

Defensively, “Tarzan” has defended an impressive 84 percent of the takedowns that have come his way. Often, Strickland will use the fence to defend, leaning against the cage and spreading his legs wide. He does a nice job of hand-fighting from this position, preventing his opponent from locking up the double and keeping him stuck on one leg. At Middleweight, no opponent has successfully taken down and controlled Strickland for any significant length of time.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Strickland has secured four wins via tapout in his professional career, but his sole submission inside the Octagon came in his UFC debut vs. Bubba McDaniel. That performance was a great demonstration of how important strikes can be to MMA grappling exchanges, as Strickland pummeled his foe with elbows and punches to convince McDaniel that giving up his back was a good idea.

It was not. Strickland has attacked the back in other bouts, but it has not yet resulted in another rear-naked choke finish. He did manage to do big damage to Hall from top position as well, convincing him to give up his back before the clock ran out. Fortunately, Strickland has yet to be submitted inside the cage, either. He did scramble with a grappling specialist in Igor Araujo quite a bit back in the day, holding his own with the jiu-jitsu black belt and never winding up in trouble.

Conclusion

Strickland enters this title bout coming off the best performance of his career, a clear improvement upon his usual form. He also enters highly motivated to pay Du Plessis back for his trash talk, so we’ll see if that proves beneficial for the champion, or if increased aggression gets him in trouble against a massive Middleweight.

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Andrew Richardson, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt, is a professional fighter who trains at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, California. In addition to learning alongside world-class talent, Andrew has scouted opponents and developed winning strategies for several of the sport’s most elite fighters.

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