Sean Strickland Just Beat Stylebender In One Of The Biggest UFC Upsets Of All Time
Oh. My. God.
What did we just watch? What just happened? I literally couldn't believe my eyes as the sequences in that fight unfolded.
Sean Strickland just out-struck Israel Adesanya for five straight rounds - dropping him badly in the first (and almost finishing him)....
He shut down all of Stylebender's offense throughout the fight with a superb jab, never gassed, and unquestionably dominated one of the greatest strikers in UFC history to earn himself the UFC Middleweight Championship. Honestly, I still can't believe it.
THIS MAN is now one of the faces of the UFC....
Stylebender closed around -750, which easily makes this one of the biggest high level upsets of all time in MMA, and some idiot poor soul lost $225k betting on him at the last minute according to the broadcast. I think Drake lost something like $500k on it too.
Despite all of the beef in the lead up to UFC 293, Strickland was super respectful to Adesanya post-fight, and actually showed some semblance of emotion when talking to DC about the win - which was refreshing to see outta him!
Adesanya didn't stick around to be interviewed, but I'd be shocked if he didn't show up to the post-fight presser tonight. He handled his KO loss to Alex Pereira phenomenally months back, and I can't imagine this one hurt more than that - but I digress.
I really wonder how the UFC/ESPN brass actually feel about all of this behind-the-scenes. Are they worried having the biggest loose cannon on the roster as champ?! You can't predict what this guy says at any point in time. I mean, it's a miracle that on a night with a double f-slur drop - NEITHER were outta Strickland's mouth!
So are they worried? Not talking about Dana, necessarily (I don't think he cares) - but the big wigs at ESPN? They might be shaking in their boots right now. They'll be hearing Strickland soundbites in their nightmares tonight.
What a sport.
