Sean Strickland out kickboxes Israel Adesanya to UD in Australia. New UFC MW Champion.
That was a hell of a performance out of Strickland. But also a terrible terrible performance out of Izzy.
Strickland took the best parts of Gastelum and Jan's performances against Izzy and took it to him. Got on the front foot and kept his jab in Izzy's face. Backed him to the cage where he didn't have to worry about the speed or Izzy being able to launch himself out of the way of shots and kept him there with above average pace/pressure. Kicks to the mid-section to keep Izzy honest with range and with the occasional right hand over the shoulder as Izzy tried to pull out. Even dropped and hurt him at the end of the first round. He stayed on Izzy's centerline. Strickland has always had good eyes and because of the positioning he was able to deflect or parry a lot of shots Izzy tried to throw.
Izzy fought like shit. Part of that was on Strickland. Part of that was habits he's always had in his game. Him waiting on the big punches to counter. Terrible foot positioning when he throws. Backing himself into the cage because he wants to be a "slick" counter striker rather than work in the middle of the cage. Frustrating stuff.