"When I was teammates with Sean, it didn't affect him in the least" - Chael Sonnen illustrates why Sean Strickland will not hold onto previous loss going into fight against Jared Cannonier
Chael Sonnen has suggested that Sean Strickland is unlikely to be adversely affected by his recent loss ahead of his upcoming fight against Jared Cannonier. Strickland is coming off a vicious first-round KO defeat at the hands of Alex Pereira, whom he faced at UFC 276 in July.
Intriguingly, Sean Strickland’s next opponent, Jared Cannonier, also competed on the same card. The UFC 276 event was headlined by a UFC middleweight title matchup that witnessed reigning champion Israel Adesanya successfully defend his title by defeating Cannonier via unanimous decision.
In an edition of Beyond the Fight, Sonnen indicated that due to their recent defeats, both Cannonier and Strickland would probably doubt themselves going into their next fight. ‘The Bad Guy’ insinuated that it’s normal for fighters to question their abilities after suffering one-sided losses like Strickland and Cannonier did.
Jared Cannonier x Sean Strickland is the plan for the Oct. 15 show, sources say. Main event. Likely Apex. Not signed but that’s the target.
Nevertheless, Chael Sonnen harked back to his training sessions with Sean Strickland when the two were previously teammates. He revealed that ‘Tarzan’ would be unfazed by his losses. Expounding upon Strickland’s uncanny ability to craftily rebound from his defeats, Sonnen stated:
“I can tell you, when I was teammates with Sean, it didn’t affect him in the least to get beat. Sean did just fine in the practice room, by the way. But I saw guys get over on him. His next round, he wasn’t down in the dumps. His next round, he didn’t change what he was doing."
"His next round, he came up just like it was a fresh and brand-new round, and whatever was behind him was already behind him. Those are what the great competitors do. That’s what I predict Sean is going to do.”
Watch Sonnen discuss the topic at 4:37 in the video below:
Israel Adesanya on Sean Strickland’s alleged lack of sparring etiquette
Presently, UFC middleweight kingpin Israel Adesanya is scheduled to defend his belt against longtime kickboxing rival Alex Pereira at UFC 281 on November 12. Meanwhile, Sean Strickland will face Jared Cannonier in a five-round middleweight matchup that’ll headline the UFC Fight Night card on October 15.
Yeah... why wouldn't someone want to spar with someone who's not helping them sharpen anything and intentionally trying to KO them... twitter.com/MMARoasted/sta…
Despite being unlikely to face Strickland anytime soon, Adesanya recently took a jibe at him over his purported lack of sparring etiquette. In a recent video posted to his FREESTYLEBENDER YouTube channel, ‘The Last Stylebender’ criticized Strickland for intentionally hurting his sparring partners. Adesanya said:
“His [Strickland’s] standup — I've seen him do more damage on YouTube in sparring than in his fights, [I'll] put it that way. I've seen his sparring footages, and I would never spar with an idiot like that."
Watch Adesanya’s assessment in the video below: