UFC 293 On ESPN+ PPV [9/9 at 10 pm ET] “Viewer Discretion Is Advised” (Sean Strickland/Israel Adesanya)

[ciubaca]

Tarzan is smarter than he looks
Is it me or is the UFC falling off?

 

[Kinguno]

This literally was a real life version of cashing in the money in the bank

 

[Kinguno]

This literally was a real life version of cashing in the money in the bank

 

[EndGame]

I'm feeling second hand embarassment right now.

 

[DEAD7]

Just watched the fight
His fighter IQ was always in question to me... this fight, he confirmed what i suspected.

Zero recognition of what was happening, and zero adjustments.
He reviews fights well, but in the ring, he's not that sharp.

 

[Kornball The Conqueror]

sad thing is izzy can't move up

 

[Sir ZDuke]

He outfought Izzy, forced him to the cage, and kept that pressure on him. This shyt can be so strange sometimes. Chinaman taunts aside, Strickland had a happy to be there demeanor throughout the press run. I watched a bunch of his interviews. Izzy definitely did him a solid by giving him the shot and not just fighting Whittaker again on his homesoil or waiting for Driccus

 

[puppetmaster]

That goofy muthafukka really pulled it off.



I remember not liking how Izzy looked during his walkout, while he’s always confident on his walks (except the first fight with Alex)

there was this aura of “I’ve easily got this in the bag” that he doesn’t normally carry to the cage.

 

[ChatGPT-5]

listening to Izzy's coach. Seems like Izzy wasn't listening to his coach, at all.


Dude just wasn't in the fight mentally. he thought it would be easy and checked out. Meanwhile Sean was begging to scrap and was bringing pressure. Izzy has tools for it, but it seemed he kept missing, he was off. Before the fight I knew the question mark kicks were coming, and they did, but they just never landed. wtf.

 

[O.Red]

@BobbyWojak I just went back and looked at the fight sequence cuz like I said I didn't rewatch it and I'm not gonna completely jump off the cliff for my opinion, I see what yall saying as far as him fall back to the cage and reeling Alex in

But he was EXTREMELY close to getting that same work he did in that first fight imo that right hand misses and he's outta here




Wild how much more aggressive he is here against Alex who is way more dangerous than Strickland, no idea what's up with the guy

Last night's fight was essentially your "right hand misses" scenario

Go back and you'll see that after Izzy got rocked in the first round he was aggressive as hell in the second. After that didn't work he became a deer in headlights for the rest of the fight

Nikkas are at Izzy's performance but the reason he looked so bad is because Strickland essentially plucked all of his tools away from him.

Izzy tried the "playing possum" shyt. Didn't work and got rocked. Tries to throw hands. White boys defense was too good and he kept advancing and throwing better punches. When Izzy went for his bread and butter leg kicks and THAT wasn't working either that's when I was like

This fight was the same shyt Izzy does to his opponents. Izzy beat Periera in the rematch because he did intense homework. Strickland best Izzy because he did the homework. But even considering the homework aspect Izzy does have a weakness for a particular style. If you got a strong chin and don't mind walking forward Izzy's confidence goes down, even if you're slow and awkward Listen to Strickland's angry ass trainer last night. He knew what the fukk he was talking about

 

[O.Red]

Just watched the fight
His fighter IQ was always in question to me... this fight, he confirmed what i suspected.

Zero recognition of what was happening, and zero adjustments.
He reviews fights well, but in the ring, his not that sharp.

Izzy knew what was going on he just couldn't adjust

Nikkas are roasting Strickland's awkward ass Dollar Tree philly shell, but dammit if that shyt wasn't effective

Some of y'all are stuck looking at this as a fight Izzy lost instead of being a fight Strickland won

 

[CarltonJunior]

this is cap

A prime Anderson would feast vs todays MW, he would be by far the most talented all around fighter in the weight class.



yeah boxing is def the better sport,

GSP, Anderson, Jones were def the golden age of MMA imo, these new fighters are just not as good imo

You can argue the top guys aren't as good as them but the competition is better than it was. There isn't any "tune up" fights in the UFC right now, that guy you never heard of is better than ever.

And as posters are alluding to, this marriage of boxing and UFC via the paul brothers and floyd, etc. is going to make the UFC fighter better because debates are being ended. Boxers are better fighters. Boxing is the blueprint for striking, and I think younger fighters/trainers are going to pay attention to that.

I think it'll take longer for them to understand the value of wrestling though. Khabib has taken guys under his wing but I'm not sure how many guys.

 

[Lord Beasley]

Izzy knew what was going on he just couldn't adjust

Nikkas are roasting Strickland's awkward ass Dollar Tree philly shell, but dammit if that shyt wasn't effective

Some of y'all are stuck looking at this as a fight Izzy lost instead of being a fight Strickland won

shyt was crazy, Strickland looked like a streets of rage boss walking him down like that. Izzy was straight shook since round one

 

[reserved_one]

Man I’m a fan of Izzy but Strick whooped his ass..

His style is so weird…Strick even uses the Philly shell stance which is uncommon for a MMA fighter. This fight exposed Izzy’s inability to deal with constant pressure more than the Pereira fights did. Izzy didn’t take this crazy cac serious at all.

I’m not even mad….It’s hard to not like Strickland and he deserves it but Izzy gonna have to get his shyt together for the rematch.

 

[TM101]

Israel is 34 and Valentina is 35. They too old for that reflexive counter puncher game. They need to adjust to a less athletic fighting style.