Great defense and a jab aren’t gonna be enough to sustain a championship reign. Could have won with a few adjustments but also makes me think Izzy could beat him in a rematch as that might have been Stickland’s peak. Or does he have Izzy’s number?
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I think he has his number. He out point-fought a point-fighter. That is not a slur on either, just a fact. One of Izzy’s major weaknesses was a lack of power. He doesn’t damage his opponent much so they remain dangerous throughout fight as he never gets them out of there or under control.
DDP beats Izzy anyway. He might rematch Sean but not for the title. Neither Strickland nor Izzy have an answer to effective pressure.
This. As Sean would say ‘fuck your feelings!!!’ Haha.
To be real, it was close and Strickland out landed due to the jab but damage trumps all and. DDP clearly landed the heavier blows incl the body kicks.
I was rooting against Sean and thought it looked bad news after R1 as he was making DDP look like shit but forgot DDP looks like shit even when he’s winning. DDP was the one pressing fwd throwing and missing a lot but also landing the bigger shots at the end of the day too.
And no the tds shouldn’t have accounted for much and Sean did a great job of getting back up but it was still putting Sean on the back foot and prob made him a bit more hesitant to press fwd most importantly until it was too late.
DDP beats Izzy if he can take him down repeatedly and beat him up but…I could also see Izzy catching DDP standing of the action prolongs there too.
Yes get what you’re saying about both Izzy and Sean’s style but Izzy does have finishing ability of course but under certain conditions. I do think he was burnt out and unmotivated for Sean about it may still be a stylistic challenge for him either way too.
I had him winning 1,2 and 5 BUT 2 was a toss up and by no means a given for either. I don’t see this fight as a robbery at all. Seen way way worse
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Izzy would KO DDP. That’s just my opinion and i don’t know much, lol.
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I wasn’t scoring the fight hardcore but I honestly had it 50/50 when the fight was over. A round or two were so close it was a coin toss for me. I think both sides have legit arguments on who won. My gut told me Dricus would get the nod by a hair when it went to the cards, though I personally might have leaned slightly towards Sean.
It wasn’t a robbery either way, too close of a fight. Both are super high level guys and fought a good fight.
I’d love to see Dricus vs Izzy then Sean getting a crack at the winner
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He can beat Izzy standing. Don’t assume he can’t at least. Izzy is not like Anderson Silva. Silva was a KO machine - from Frykland to Bonnar the only 2 that went the distance were Maia and Leites and that is only because Silva wanted that to happen. You can dominate without stopping the other guy - Floyd is an obvious example of that.
Izzy neither stops his opponents nor looks particularly dominant. He fought tentatively against an ancient Silva, was far from dominant over Gastelum (who went on to lose 5 of his next 7 fights). Whittaker was his next fight and it was then he started fighting the elites in the division. Including the Whittaker fight, he has fought 10 times since - 7 wins, 3 losses, 4 wins by decision. In 1 of those losses he was KOed, in another he was dropped and completely outclassed over 5 rounds. He might have been burnt or of unmotivated for Strickland but he made zero adjustments and lost every round. He couldn’t do anything to him.
He doesn’t KO guys like Silva or make guys look useless like Floyd. He never did. He’s a very good fighter but his strengths are technical skill, he weakness is lack of strength and power.
DDP beats him and I think somewhat easily. He has effective pressure and the threat of a takedown behind it. And I don’t think Izzy will be as able to defend himself in grappling exchanges as Strickland was.
Izzy looked better than he was. DDP (and Strickland) are better than they look.
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Yeah, lol. The gay posse cleaned the table, haha! They/them, or who tf knows. That must hurt Sean the most, lol!
In the event of a draw, or a really close fight, the Champ should retain.
In the event of 2 guys competing, the better competitor should be awarded the victory.
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There should be a sudden death round for fights that suck.
They should just open the cage door and let the audience kick them to death.
To me damage is a meaningless criteria because it doesn’t indicate a fighter’s proximity to a finish. Someone could beat Mark Hunt for 25 minutes and not leave a bruise or cut, or be anywhere near putting Hunt down. Or they could beat him to a pulp and still not be close to finishing him. If the punch stats are equal and the visible damage is all one way, I still give the decision to the guy that pressed the action, got closer to a finish, or landed the harder cleaner shots. Sounds like Strickland should have won against my prediction.
Fair post with some good assessment and always appreciate some numerical analysis rather than the Horde of those talking out their emotional asses.
Izzy and Anderson are a it similar in that they need guys to come at him to be open for the kill shot. Anderson’s stinkers were when guys shouldn’t come at him. Izzy is better at picking and probing until guys come at him but can often look boring and less effective while still winning.
I disagree with your final assessments though as at the end of the day, Izzy won and won a lot and did so as a champ which is the hardest thing to do. Sean while not getting dominated loses a lot due to the limits of his style. DDP looks awkward yada yada but still wins. But it’s just the beginning for him, the true test to be great is how you do once you get to the top.
Izzy also stopped AP, hurt him in the first UFC bout as well, stopped Costa and Whittaker. Those are all stoppages over high level opponents. But yes he’s had some snoozers but still beat them clearly.
Izzy has done that already. And could still add to it. Sean lost his first defense exactly due to his limitations. He also lost to Cannonier recently. Not to mention Alex.
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Your opinion means nothing…
Like “cage control?” What about counter strikers?