The night time got here to an in depth with the primary UFC title change of the 12 months when Dricus Du Plessis edged Sean Strickland by cut up determination to assert the middleweight championship in a hotly contested affair.
Sitting cageside, I believed Du Plessis (21-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC) received the combat, and comparatively clearly at that. I gave him Spherical 2, Spherical 3 and Spherical 4, however that was with out the good thing about the published perspective, which frequently supplies a a lot better vantage level on the motion than sitting simply outdoors the octagon partitions.
If somebody thinks Strickland (28-6 MMA, 15-6 UFC) received, which appears to be the case for a lot of, together with UFC CEO Dana White – I’m not going to argue it. Each males have been busted up and gave it their everywhere in the course of 5 rounds, and it got here all the way down to some pretty slim margins.
The top actuality, although, is that Du Plessis is the brand new titleholder at 185 kilos, bringing Strickland’s comparatively quick, and extremely controversial, title reign to an finish.
It was actually an attention-grabbing week for Strickland in Toronto. He shredded the Canadian authorities at each flip, went viral from his media day change with MMA Preventing’s Alexander Ok. Lee, and located himself on the centerpiece of a tug-of-rope debate between free speech and hate speech.
I clearly don’t condone lots of the nastier messages Strickland verbalized all through combat week. To me, anybody who has an ethical compass and practices primary human decency ought to perceive why a lot of Strickland’s feedback have been seen as heinous. However I’m additionally not going to behave like something he stated wasn’t a variation of feedback he already made up to now, or fake to be shocked or offended by it.
Strickland’s position within the sport, for higher or worse, is definitely fairly fascinating to me. He’s just about the exact opposite of what you’ll craft in your thoughts as a mannequin champion, and he’s not precisely somebody who’s racking in blue chip sponsors for the corporate or himself. But by some means, his character has labored completely for the 2024 model of the UFC, the place main man White has repeatedly – and did once more after this occasion – made it recognized his promotion is a spot the place athletes received’t be censored, or given “a leash” in any approach, form or type.
Dana White thinks Sean Strickland was “baited” in his viral #UFC297 media day change with a reporter.
“Free speech. You are going to management what individuals say?” pic.twitter.com/gH4NOMtwYn
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) January 21, 2024
There’s a begrudging stage of respect for White in remaining largely according to that stance lately, whatever the damaging blowback ensuing from the trash somebody like Colby Covington or Strickland may spew out of their mouths. Placing him apart, although, it’s arduous to not surprise if there will likely be some aid within the UFC places of work Monday realizing Strickland doesn’t characterize the corporate as one among its few champions.
Though Strickland has clearly bonded with an enormous chunk of the MMA fanbase, as we’ve seen from his reactions in Sydney and Toronto over the previous two fights, there’s a powerful case to be made that he’s extra hassle than he’s value. If that wasn’t true, White would have began pushing for a right away rematch with Du Plessis moderately than shutting it down.
Perhaps Strickland will discover himself in a title combat once more sooner or later. Perhaps he’ll maintain that belt once more and be that consultant. He’s not going to alter as an individual with out the gold round his waist, however the microphone of his messages received’t be fairly as loud going ahead with out the platform of a championship.
For extra on the cardboard, go to MMA Junkie’s occasion hub for UFC 297.
