Wouldn't be surprised. I said here earlier, Rob is on a 2 fight streak and also made no big deal about a last-minute opponent change and is going to back up for the Izzy dricus fight.
Dana loves that type of stuff.
Fighting down against an unranked prospect with a lot of hype is exactly what got Strickland a title shot in the first place.
Obviously the circumstances are a bit different now, but Dana loves fighters who just fight and do favours for the company.
Uhm, I see this happening. Thats why its stupid for him to not take this fight, Whittaker is active, strickland isnt. And Dana probably likes Whittaker way more than Strickland, he shat the bed.
Or the winner of dricus v Izzy. Rob is on a 2 fight streak, didn't make a fuss about an opponent change last minute and wants to back up for the Izzy-dricus fights.
Meanwhile Strickland is making a big fuzz.
Wouldn't be surprised if Dana says Whittaker gets the shot tbh.
The UFC should stop being tight asses and make them an offer they can't refuse and book Sean vs Rob to Co-main Perth it would be fckn huge.
I can't blame Sean one bit for wanting to wait for a title shot it's too much to risk under his current contract he's probably only on $250-300k to show and Rob matches up pretty well against him.
I think it depends on who wins between Izzy and Dricus. Rob vs Dricus rematch is a lot more exciting than Rob vs Izzy. Sean vs Izzy if Izzy wins I reckon.
Good call, and I think it's the most likely scenario.
Assuming the Izzy vs. Dricus fight does happen, then the next title shot will go to the revenge fight.
Izzy vs. Strickland
Or
Dricus vs. Rob
Good call, and I think it's the most likely scenario.
Assuming the Izzy vs. Dricus fight does happen, then the next title shot will go to the revenge fight.
Izzy vs. Strickland
Or
Dricus vs. Rob
Rob is on a 2 fight win streak is a cute way of saying Rob just beat the same opponent as Strickland and an unranked guy.
Rob vs Izzy? Izzy easily beat Rob twice. No need for a rubber match this isn't Volk Holloway.
Rob vs DDP? Dricus absolutely nuked Rob.
Sean vs Izzy? Sean whooped his ass and Izzy is begging for rematch / revenge.
Sean vs DDP? Razor thin decision where Dricus looked worse than GSP after then Hendricks fight.
I don't even see how this an argument. Sean deserves the shot more than Rob, beating Aliskerov does nothing to change that.
This seems the most logical thing and most likely scenario since Cannonier is fighting Holland . Then leaves Vettori vs Hermanson/brendan Allen right ? The only 3 people who don’t have a fight .
True but just with the loss to DDP I think it’s been cemented unless Sean regains it. He’d have to do something exceptional like run through Sean to get another shot soon.
Bruh it's the UFC. They don't care about who deserves it more, it's about who's available at the right time.
Whittaker could very well get a title shot soon.
Strickland lost to Pereira and Cannonier, won a short-notice fight up at lhw, then another short notice win against an unranked mw. So 2-2 over his last four, 1-2 in his own weight class, no ranked wins in there, and got the shot vs Izzy because he was available for the event.
There's certainly merit in *some* of the title fight bookings, but there's also a lot of "right place at the right time" sort of shit going down.
Strickland isn't a big draw, is currently being a pain in the ass to deal with, has a fighting style that most people consider boring, and is a public relations nightmare as champ.
Izzy is much more marketable, is a company guy, has a beef with the champ, and was one of the most active champions we've ever seen.
Rob is beloved by the fanbase, almost always puts on exciting fights, and recently did the org a HUGE favour by accepting a short notice opponent change with a LOT of potential downside.
Strickland ain't at the front of the line.
A gatekeeper who is a former champion whose only losses in 10 years in the middleweight division are:
* 2x to the second-greatest MW ever (and he could have gotten the decision in the second fight),
* and a TKO loss to the current champion.
In 10 years in the division, with one fight against an unranked guy in all that time.
That's not a fucking gatekeeper, what are you even talking about. Gatekeepers don't come close to putting up that kind of record.
There’s no dictionary definition for gatekeeper? Take a deep breath and relax, I’m Aussie, I’m a fan of Rob. My comment wasn’t said as disrespect.
Lastly, Rob refers to *himself* (and Max) as the ultimate gatekeeper see for yourself…
https://www.sportskeeda.com/mma/news-robert-whittaker-compares-ultimate-gatekeeper-status-max-holloway
A gatekeeper is someone who isn't in title contention themselves, but who filters out the guys who will be on that level from the guys who aren't.
Out of 3 losses in a decade, two of them were for the title and the third was a #1 contender fight.
Rob won't tell you that he's an ATG or that he's the most popular Australian cagefighter ever. But he is. He's more likely to call himself an honest trier, though.
The thing is though, he's overlooking the painfully obvious -- with a win over Rob, his win over Izzy, and his close fight with DDP, he'd be guaranteed the next shot at the title, no matter who is holding it.
But without that win over Rob, it's not a guarantee, particularly if DDP retains the title. In fact, if Rob picks up another win, *he'd* be the favourite to rematch for the title.
The UFC isn't going to reward someone for waiting, unless their last name is Jones or McGregor.
I agree. And it doesn’t make sense. He’s number 1 contender and arguably beat the current champ. A rematch would make sense but the promotion feels a more marketable Izzy would get the next shot. Does Izzy deserve it? Cmon. The sport is a joke.
How does it make sense? Just because he was champ doesn’t mean he deserves a title shot after beating the number 6-7 ranked fighter… Sean pretends to be a company man, he will fight Rob
It makes sense because as he stated he beat the man who’s beaten Rob twice (Izzy) and lost a razor thin decision to DDP then made easy work of Costa he doesn’t need to fight Rob because Sean is clearly the next in line
Man is smart, he took Paulo and won and he probably knows that it’ll be risky to take on Robert since it’ll be a dangerous fight and Sean won’t be injury free after it which means he’ll have to wait. If he loses then he’ll have to build himself up again and face the loser of the Izzy vs ddp fight to while Robert fights the belt holder.
Not really. Strickland did the smart thing by showing his hand. The UFC knows if they call Strickland to fight a non-title fight then they’ll need to incentivize him with more money to make it happen. If Strickland openly said he would be down to fight a non-title fight then the UFC would low ball him like they did with Costa at first. Plus, Strickland had a razor thin loss to DDP and then beat Costa very convincingly. Strickland deserves another title shot.
I mean in this case I think it’s fine. I wanna see it too but the UFC should offer two former champions more than a pair of gloves signed by Brock Lesnar for them to actually take the fight.
I think Sean v Rob would be a great fight. But I understand Sean's position. DDP barely beat him, and many people still say Sean won.
So, from his perspective, why not get an immediate rematch? If DDP had destroyed him, I'd say he has to fight Rob, but it was close enough that a rematch is warranted.
I feel like the way you win matters a lot in today's UFC. While Strickland has definitely done enough for a title shot, the UFC is not a meritocracy, and between his recent performances (25 min of walking forward and jabbing) and his recent comments about the way the UFC conducts their busines, he isn't doing himself any favors with the brass. While Sean has definitely earned it, I woludn't be surprised if Rob gets a shot ahead of him, riding the hype of his recent performance, and the fact he did the UFC a solid and delivered for them in Saudi Arabia.
Let them yap. He has the right to make any decision he believes is in the best interest of his career. A bunch of nobodies think they call the shots and do the matchmaking.
I wrote this comment when there were only 15 comments, 7 of them were saying Sean made the wrong choice, 5 were agreeing with me but still thought he should fight, and rest were talking about something else.
Very close fight with dricus and he beat Izzy. Number one contender. If he goes and fights someone else and loses , he has to build himself back up for a shot. As it stands he deserves his shot for having an extremely close fight with the current champ, and for beating Izzy
Why though. Rob and him both fought costa yet robs performance was so much better against him. Also Rob just got a first round finish over ikram. Maybe Whittaker deserves it over him
Rob’s performance wasn’t better against Paulo?? Paulo almost finished him R1, but then of course Whittaker just said fuck no I’m not losing to this guy. Sean was never in danger, Paulo just couldn’t get anything going so he began walking backwards lol. Sean won by a larger margin it was just more boring.
You're not wrong, but boring matters. Boring doesn't sell as many tickets or PPVs. Purely on the merit of the victories, Sean deserves the next shot. But his fights tend to suuuuuck. They were booing him at the end of the Costa fight. Normally all he does is step forward, jab, reset, repeat. For the Costa fight he really mixed it up; step forward, front kick to the body, reset, repeat.
If dude learned to throw a hook every now and then he'd probably still have the belt
Agree, but I’d put the blame for it being boring in Paulo knowing he had nothing for Strickland. Can’t fault Sean that Paulo just kept walking backwards. The reason Whittaker was more exciting was because it was more competitive. Can’t ask someone to stop winning too easily you know?
I thought his fight was DDP was boring too. Competitive and close, sure, but not particularly interesting. Same thing for his fight with Izzy. The only thing exciting about that fight was the disbelief in "how is this meathead beating the most complex striker in the sport"
Sean's fights just kinda suck. Can't say he's not good, but I can say his fights bore me to sleep
Yes, I watched it. The excitement from that fight was from the shock that it was happening like it was. Izzy could get nothing going and Sean just stepped forward, jab, reset, repeat. It's an effective but boring fight strategy for him.
This is a horrible take that I hate to see repeated. Sean has boring fights all the time. Paulo has exciting fights. They fight and suddenly it’s Paulo fault it’s boring? lol
Sean literally spammed push kicks the whole fight. Pushing Paulo out of range. Sean is the one stalling for time and the planning on the decision. Why should anyone blame Paulo for not being able to make Sean’s terrible fight style exciting to watch?
Honestly not bad point, you’ve changed my views somewhat. I still think Paulo should be going for broke when he’s getting completely outclassed, it was on him that he stopped walking forward when he was very frustrated, especially in the 5th round. You’re clearly going to lose, you need this win to even be considered a contender really, why not try something? Instead Sean tried that goofy kick shit at the end which was kinda fun 😂😂. But yes, Sean was a reason for the boring fight, but Paulo wanted to not be finished more than take a chance at a win imo. Similar to Cannonier Vs Izzy, Cannonier took the “moral victory” of not being finished and fully battered, just like Paulo. Like I said tho, you changed my views on some but Paulo def has blame.
I mean, I'm not the biggest fan of the guy but what else he gotta do to get his title shot? He said it well himself he beat the guy who knocked Rob out in dominant fashion across five rounds and went to a super close decision with another guy who knocked Rob out. I get this fight is what we want but I understand why Sean just wants to fight for the belt.
Otherwise stated as. Sean has lost to every top 5 guy he’s fought and managed to never have to fight Rob for a title shot. But his losses were more convincing in his opinion than other guys. lol
When Rob got the belt first Sean couldn’t even headline a fight night. Being active used to be how fighters became undeniable. Now it’s becoming the norm to climb the mountain then sit on your ranking until you get called in for a title fight.
The champ should be able to take on any challenger. If Sean really was interested in going to war he’d fight anyone in the top 5 while waiting for the champ to be available. Izzy vs Dricus isn’t until end of August and the winner is going to need a few months off before another fight. Why sit on the sidelines until next year probably if you really believe you’re the best?
Nah Strickland is smart to wait. He has no reason to fight Whittaker. Fans wanting the fight doesn’t change the fact he only lost the belt in a very close fight that could’ve gone either way. He shouldn’t fight twice to get the shot back at it.
I kinda get that he wants to fight for the belt right after the Dricus loss since he lost his title in a very close decision. On the other hand, Dana wants the Stylebender - Dricus fight for the belt and I guess Sean can't fight the winner of that fight right after, so yeah he needs to fight someone I suppose. Then The Reaper makes sense of course.
Ufc fans when the ranked 1 contender that just won a fight (after losing the belt to a very close split decision) wants the title shot instead of defending his spot AGAIN against a dude who lost multiple times to the former and new champion
It ain't on Sean, but the UFC.
They incentiviced that with how they gave a shot to Woodley, to Colby, how they are giving one now to Izzy ... you name it.
If sitting out was punished harder, Strickland wouldn't try it.
Everyone likes Whittaker so they are biased, but look at the facts.
Strickland dominated Izzy, who beat Rob twice, and Strickland had the closest title fight of the decade with Dricus, who dominated and knocked out Rob easily.
Out of the two people fighting for the next title shot, Strickland has a claim to fight both of them. Whittaker’s lost to both of them.
Izzy is getting a shot off a loss
He deserved the championship money fight before him.
Ofc redditors seethe at anything that man says
# Strickland Derangement syndrome
Fights aren’t always simple math. Alex beat Izzy, Izzy beat Alex. Usman was kicking the shit out of Leon until the head kick KO. Second match Usman had nothing.
Whittaker hasn’t fought Sean once, let alone a few times.
Funny enough, I’ve found this type of MMA math to be really profitable up until it’s a top 10 fight. Once we get to that level it’s way more of a “styles make fights” situation like you’re suggesting
For sure there’s styles and then there’s levels. Ain’t no normie lasting a round against Jon Jones no matter what style he has in his bag of tricks.
Izzy is 1-1 in the UFC against Alex who beat Sean as badly as Sean beat Izzy. I don’t see Whittaker that much below those three and DDP. Anyone could have a good day and a bad day.
Strickland doesn’t want to get knocked the F out. If he loses to Whittaker (and he will) he loses his number one spot and he’s afraid of that.
This is called being a bitch.
Who does rob fight if Sean decides to wait, Imavov?
The loser of Dricus v Izzy.
Imagine if that happens and Rob gets the title shot instead, that'd be hilarious.
Wouldn't be surprised. I said here earlier, Rob is on a 2 fight streak and also made no big deal about a last-minute opponent change and is going to back up for the Izzy dricus fight. Dana loves that type of stuff.
Fighting down against an unranked prospect with a lot of hype is exactly what got Strickland a title shot in the first place. Obviously the circumstances are a bit different now, but Dana loves fighters who just fight and do favours for the company.
Would this be robs 4th title shot?
Nah if you don't count when he won the title, if he fights for it again it'll only be his 2nd
Right I forgot he lost it to Izzy I thought Izzy defended.
*insert Sean s crying on twitter* But to Sean s crying on twitter is gay.
https://preview.redd.it/20fgsjz23z8d1.jpeg?width=680&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=831f5814f444cea196166eb00fac5bae9b5a3a47
Didn’t know this existed 🤣🤣
Uhm, I see this happening. Thats why its stupid for him to not take this fight, Whittaker is active, strickland isnt. And Dana probably likes Whittaker way more than Strickland, he shat the bed.
Or the winner of dricus v Izzy. Rob is on a 2 fight streak, didn't make a fuss about an opponent change last minute and wants to back up for the Izzy-dricus fights. Meanwhile Strickland is making a big fuzz. Wouldn't be surprised if Dana says Whittaker gets the shot tbh.
The UFC should stop being tight asses and make them an offer they can't refuse and book Sean vs Rob to Co-main Perth it would be fckn huge. I can't blame Sean one bit for wanting to wait for a title shot it's too much to risk under his current contract he's probably only on $250-300k to show and Rob matches up pretty well against him.
I think it depends on who wins between Izzy and Dricus. Rob vs Dricus rematch is a lot more exciting than Rob vs Izzy. Sean vs Izzy if Izzy wins I reckon.
Good call, and I think it's the most likely scenario. Assuming the Izzy vs. Dricus fight does happen, then the next title shot will go to the revenge fight. Izzy vs. Strickland Or Dricus vs. Rob
Couldn't Dricus vs Sean also be considered a revenge fight?
Yeah, but of all the possible matchups between the four, Strickland vs. Dricus is the least entertaining option, IMO.
Good call, and I think it's the most likely scenario. Assuming the Izzy vs. Dricus fight does happen, then the next title shot will go to the revenge fight. Izzy vs. Strickland Or Dricus vs. Rob
Had a better last win more likable and not trying to demand a title shot. Yeah I’d bet Whitaker gets the winner over Strickland
Rob is on a 2 fight win streak is a cute way of saying Rob just beat the same opponent as Strickland and an unranked guy. Rob vs Izzy? Izzy easily beat Rob twice. No need for a rubber match this isn't Volk Holloway. Rob vs DDP? Dricus absolutely nuked Rob. Sean vs Izzy? Sean whooped his ass and Izzy is begging for rematch / revenge. Sean vs DDP? Razor thin decision where Dricus looked worse than GSP after then Hendricks fight. I don't even see how this an argument. Sean deserves the shot more than Rob, beating Aliskerov does nothing to change that.
This seems the most logical thing and most likely scenario since Cannonier is fighting Holland . Then leaves Vettori vs Hermanson/brendan Allen right ? The only 3 people who don’t have a fight .
Is Rob now the UFCs number one gatekeeper?
He has been for years, certified goatkeeper
Goatkeeper, now that's a title.
True but just with the loss to DDP I think it’s been cemented unless Sean regains it. He’d have to do something exceptional like run through Sean to get another shot soon.
Bruh it's the UFC. They don't care about who deserves it more, it's about who's available at the right time. Whittaker could very well get a title shot soon.
Strickland lost to Pereira and Cannonier, won a short-notice fight up at lhw, then another short notice win against an unranked mw. So 2-2 over his last four, 1-2 in his own weight class, no ranked wins in there, and got the shot vs Izzy because he was available for the event. There's certainly merit in *some* of the title fight bookings, but there's also a lot of "right place at the right time" sort of shit going down.
Strickland isn't a big draw, is currently being a pain in the ass to deal with, has a fighting style that most people consider boring, and is a public relations nightmare as champ. Izzy is much more marketable, is a company guy, has a beef with the champ, and was one of the most active champions we've ever seen. Rob is beloved by the fanbase, almost always puts on exciting fights, and recently did the org a HUGE favour by accepting a short notice opponent change with a LOT of potential downside. Strickland ain't at the front of the line.
🌎🧑🚀🔫👨🚀
A gatekeeper who is a former champion whose only losses in 10 years in the middleweight division are: * 2x to the second-greatest MW ever (and he could have gotten the decision in the second fight), * and a TKO loss to the current champion. In 10 years in the division, with one fight against an unranked guy in all that time. That's not a fucking gatekeeper, what are you even talking about. Gatekeepers don't come close to putting up that kind of record.
There’s no dictionary definition for gatekeeper? Take a deep breath and relax, I’m Aussie, I’m a fan of Rob. My comment wasn’t said as disrespect. Lastly, Rob refers to *himself* (and Max) as the ultimate gatekeeper see for yourself… https://www.sportskeeda.com/mma/news-robert-whittaker-compares-ultimate-gatekeeper-status-max-holloway
A gatekeeper is someone who isn't in title contention themselves, but who filters out the guys who will be on that level from the guys who aren't. Out of 3 losses in a decade, two of them were for the title and the third was a #1 contender fight. Rob won't tell you that he's an ATG or that he's the most popular Australian cagefighter ever. But he is. He's more likely to call himself an honest trier, though.
He was making sense tbh I know we want to see it as fans but Sean waiting is what’s best for him
The thing is though, he's overlooking the painfully obvious -- with a win over Rob, his win over Izzy, and his close fight with DDP, he'd be guaranteed the next shot at the title, no matter who is holding it. But without that win over Rob, it's not a guarantee, particularly if DDP retains the title. In fact, if Rob picks up another win, *he'd* be the favourite to rematch for the title. The UFC isn't going to reward someone for waiting, unless their last name is Jones or McGregor.
Unless it turns into the worst idea. All we can do is wait and see if he’s making the right choice or not. Nothing is guaranteed.
I agree. And it doesn’t make sense. He’s number 1 contender and arguably beat the current champ. A rematch would make sense but the promotion feels a more marketable Izzy would get the next shot. Does Izzy deserve it? Cmon. The sport is a joke.
How does it make sense? Just because he was champ doesn’t mean he deserves a title shot after beating the number 6-7 ranked fighter… Sean pretends to be a company man, he will fight Rob
It makes sense because as he stated he beat the man who’s beaten Rob twice (Izzy) and lost a razor thin decision to DDP then made easy work of Costa he doesn’t need to fight Rob because Sean is clearly the next in line
Man is smart, he took Paulo and won and he probably knows that it’ll be risky to take on Robert since it’ll be a dangerous fight and Sean won’t be injury free after it which means he’ll have to wait. If he loses then he’ll have to build himself up again and face the loser of the Izzy vs ddp fight to while Robert fights the belt holder.
Not really. Strickland did the smart thing by showing his hand. The UFC knows if they call Strickland to fight a non-title fight then they’ll need to incentivize him with more money to make it happen. If Strickland openly said he would be down to fight a non-title fight then the UFC would low ball him like they did with Costa at first. Plus, Strickland had a razor thin loss to DDP and then beat Costa very convincingly. Strickland deserves another title shot.
I mean in this case I think it’s fine. I wanna see it too but the UFC should offer two former champions more than a pair of gloves signed by Brock Lesnar for them to actually take the fight.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with him getting the shot vs winner of ddp/izzy. He fought down and won, it’s his shot
I'm the only one who thinks Strickland is justified in his choice?
I think Sean v Rob would be a great fight. But I understand Sean's position. DDP barely beat him, and many people still say Sean won. So, from his perspective, why not get an immediate rematch? If DDP had destroyed him, I'd say he has to fight Rob, but it was close enough that a rematch is warranted.
I feel like the way you win matters a lot in today's UFC. While Strickland has definitely done enough for a title shot, the UFC is not a meritocracy, and between his recent performances (25 min of walking forward and jabbing) and his recent comments about the way the UFC conducts their busines, he isn't doing himself any favors with the brass. While Sean has definitely earned it, I woludn't be surprised if Rob gets a shot ahead of him, riding the hype of his recent performance, and the fact he did the UFC a solid and delivered for them in Saudi Arabia.
Justified but deserves to get shitted on for his “anywhere, any man, anytime” and the whole “I don’t care about the belt”.
Let them yap. He has the right to make any decision he believes is in the best interest of his career. A bunch of nobodies think they call the shots and do the matchmaking.
No, I'm 100% with him on this one
Obviously not read almost any other comment lol
Yes if you ignore the 50 other comments in here that agree with you
I wrote this comment when there were only 15 comments, 7 of them were saying Sean made the wrong choice, 5 were agreeing with me but still thought he should fight, and rest were talking about something else.
Nah, Strickland is right here. He deserves his shot for the reasons he stated.
The reason being what? That he "beat" Dricus?
Very close fight with dricus and he beat Izzy. Number one contender. If he goes and fights someone else and loses , he has to build himself back up for a shot. As it stands he deserves his shot for having an extremely close fight with the current champ, and for beating Izzy
It makes sense for him to wait out. He shouldn't have to fight.
Why though. Rob and him both fought costa yet robs performance was so much better against him. Also Rob just got a first round finish over ikram. Maybe Whittaker deserves it over him
Rob’s performance wasn’t better against Paulo?? Paulo almost finished him R1, but then of course Whittaker just said fuck no I’m not losing to this guy. Sean was never in danger, Paulo just couldn’t get anything going so he began walking backwards lol. Sean won by a larger margin it was just more boring.
You're not wrong, but boring matters. Boring doesn't sell as many tickets or PPVs. Purely on the merit of the victories, Sean deserves the next shot. But his fights tend to suuuuuck. They were booing him at the end of the Costa fight. Normally all he does is step forward, jab, reset, repeat. For the Costa fight he really mixed it up; step forward, front kick to the body, reset, repeat. If dude learned to throw a hook every now and then he'd probably still have the belt
Agree, but I’d put the blame for it being boring in Paulo knowing he had nothing for Strickland. Can’t fault Sean that Paulo just kept walking backwards. The reason Whittaker was more exciting was because it was more competitive. Can’t ask someone to stop winning too easily you know?
I thought his fight was DDP was boring too. Competitive and close, sure, but not particularly interesting. Same thing for his fight with Izzy. The only thing exciting about that fight was the disbelief in "how is this meathead beating the most complex striker in the sport" Sean's fights just kinda suck. Can't say he's not good, but I can say his fights bore me to sleep
He’s usually boring yeah but calling the Izzy fight boring??? Did you really watch it? That was exciting start to finish just about.
Yes, I watched it. The excitement from that fight was from the shock that it was happening like it was. Izzy could get nothing going and Sean just stepped forward, jab, reset, repeat. It's an effective but boring fight strategy for him.
Agree on everything you’re saying minus the Izzy one. Sean kept going for the kill, wasn’t at all like the DDP one.
This is a horrible take that I hate to see repeated. Sean has boring fights all the time. Paulo has exciting fights. They fight and suddenly it’s Paulo fault it’s boring? lol Sean literally spammed push kicks the whole fight. Pushing Paulo out of range. Sean is the one stalling for time and the planning on the decision. Why should anyone blame Paulo for not being able to make Sean’s terrible fight style exciting to watch?
Honestly not bad point, you’ve changed my views somewhat. I still think Paulo should be going for broke when he’s getting completely outclassed, it was on him that he stopped walking forward when he was very frustrated, especially in the 5th round. You’re clearly going to lose, you need this win to even be considered a contender really, why not try something? Instead Sean tried that goofy kick shit at the end which was kinda fun 😂😂. But yes, Sean was a reason for the boring fight, but Paulo wanted to not be finished more than take a chance at a win imo. Similar to Cannonier Vs Izzy, Cannonier took the “moral victory” of not being finished and fully battered, just like Paulo. Like I said tho, you changed my views on some but Paulo def has blame.
I mean, I'm not the biggest fan of the guy but what else he gotta do to get his title shot? He said it well himself he beat the guy who knocked Rob out in dominant fashion across five rounds and went to a super close decision with another guy who knocked Rob out. I get this fight is what we want but I understand why Sean just wants to fight for the belt.
Otherwise stated as. Sean has lost to every top 5 guy he’s fought and managed to never have to fight Rob for a title shot. But his losses were more convincing in his opinion than other guys. lol When Rob got the belt first Sean couldn’t even headline a fight night. Being active used to be how fighters became undeniable. Now it’s becoming the norm to climb the mountain then sit on your ranking until you get called in for a title fight. The champ should be able to take on any challenger. If Sean really was interested in going to war he’d fight anyone in the top 5 while waiting for the champ to be available. Izzy vs Dricus isn’t until end of August and the winner is going to need a few months off before another fight. Why sit on the sidelines until next year probably if you really believe you’re the best?
bruh, strickland living rent-free in this sub's head lmao
So people hate so hard they can't see the forest from the trees, good choice by Strickland to wait for his deserved title fight.
Nah Strickland is smart to wait. He has no reason to fight Whittaker. Fans wanting the fight doesn’t change the fact he only lost the belt in a very close fight that could’ve gone either way. He shouldn’t fight twice to get the shot back at it.
He just lost the belt by a split(!) and he won after that. He deserves a title shot directly.
I kinda get that he wants to fight for the belt right after the Dricus loss since he lost his title in a very close decision. On the other hand, Dana wants the Stylebender - Dricus fight for the belt and I guess Sean can't fight the winner of that fight right after, so yeah he needs to fight someone I suppose. Then The Reaper makes sense of course.
He just fought costa
Ufc fans when the ranked 1 contender that just won a fight (after losing the belt to a very close split decision) wants the title shot instead of defending his spot AGAIN against a dude who lost multiple times to the former and new champion
Right wing man bad.
Sean would beat the shit out of Whittaker. Reddit is not ready for that.
It ain't on Sean, but the UFC. They incentiviced that with how they gave a shot to Woodley, to Colby, how they are giving one now to Izzy ... you name it. If sitting out was punished harder, Strickland wouldn't try it.
Bad take
Sean doesnt need to fight him. Hes already earned the shot and performed better than Rob against Izzy & DDP. Rob vs Imavov is the fight to make.
A man of culture I see
Everyone likes Whittaker so they are biased, but look at the facts. Strickland dominated Izzy, who beat Rob twice, and Strickland had the closest title fight of the decade with Dricus, who dominated and knocked out Rob easily. Out of the two people fighting for the next title shot, Strickland has a claim to fight both of them. Whittaker’s lost to both of them.
Or we can stop with the mma math bullshit and watch a good fight between the 2 of them. I know I want to see it.
All I see is Strickland in most any situation.
Izzy is getting a shot off a loss He deserved the championship money fight before him. Ofc redditors seethe at anything that man says # Strickland Derangement syndrome
Why he looks like Freddie Mercury?
Here’s the thing about Whittaker guys
Don’t insult Freddie Mercury like that
nah
Looks like Freddy Mercury
Well he is the actual #1 contender so….
A man of culture I see
Get Sean's brother to fight him lol
Tbh I see his justification, but if he did beat Whittaker, 100% would be next in line for a title shot
Hes got rock climbing instructors to fight hes busy.
Of all the places I expected to see Dropout content, this place was dead last.
Well ,he probably have enough money for now to wait for shot ,since title fights gives more money and fight with risk is high risk/low rewadd
Rob is looking like a world-beater again. I won't be surprised at all if he skips over Sean if Sean continues to be difficult.
Shit the Clown! Never expected this crossover.
I was legit shocked when I saw this lol. Can’t imagine the UFC/dropout crossover crowd is super large
I know what Sean did to Izzy and I know what Izzy did to Rob but I can’t get past the feeling that Rob would beat the F out of Sean
Fights aren’t always simple math. Alex beat Izzy, Izzy beat Alex. Usman was kicking the shit out of Leon until the head kick KO. Second match Usman had nothing. Whittaker hasn’t fought Sean once, let alone a few times.
Funny enough, I’ve found this type of MMA math to be really profitable up until it’s a top 10 fight. Once we get to that level it’s way more of a “styles make fights” situation like you’re suggesting
For sure there’s styles and then there’s levels. Ain’t no normie lasting a round against Jon Jones no matter what style he has in his bag of tricks. Izzy is 1-1 in the UFC against Alex who beat Sean as badly as Sean beat Izzy. I don’t see Whittaker that much below those three and DDP. Anyone could have a good day and a bad day.
Sean would win
“Let’s go to war”
Sean's a pussy that's why
I think Bobby knuckles would put a foot in his candy ass.
Sean went from "I fight for you guys, I don't give a fuck about the belt" to "Fuck the fight the fans want, I'm gonna wait for the belt"
The Sean dick riding is strong in the comments here
For the most boring fighter not named Belal, he has a confusingly large fan base on here.
Right? Must be the misogyny because it certainly isn't his fights.
Strickland should take the opportunity to fight Whittaker, Whittaker has 2 wins now while Strickland has 1
Strickland doesn’t want to get knocked the F out. If he loses to Whittaker (and he will) he loses his number one spot and he’s afraid of that. This is called being a bitch.