"I was doubting that he could do this” - Sean Strickland’s former teammate, and UFC lightweight star, was in awe of his win over Israel Adesanya
Sean Strickland's victory against Israel Adesanya was so unexpected that some of his former training partners could not even believe what he accomplished.
Adesanya and Strickland faced off in the main event of UFC 293 two months ago. 'The Last Stylebender' initially looked set to face surging South African Dricus du Plessis, but 'Stillknocks' ruled himself out due to injury.
Strickland was announced as Adesanya's new opponent five weeks before fight night, and few expected 'Tarzan' to give the champion any issues.
Given the nature of Alex Pereira's KO victory over Sean Strickland at UFC 276, the consensus was that Israel Adesanya would have his way with 'Tarzan' on the feet.
Adesanya himself shared skepticism that Strickland would be willing to trade strikes with him, but Sean Strickland ultimately proved everyone wrong. 'Tarzan' went toe-to-toe with his opponent on the feet and dominated the fight for all five rounds.
Beneil Dariush, a former training partner of 'Tarzan', has now shared his thoughts on the miraculous UFC 293 main event. Dariush said this:
"I'll be honest with you, I was even doubting him. I was doubting that he could do this. The reason I was doubting it, I was like, 'Man, Sean has really good wrestling. But he's not gonna use it, so I think it's gonna be a long night for him.' And then he goes out there and has this really efficient style of fighting... It shocked me. I'm super happy for him."
Watch the video below from 10:30:
Khamzat Chimaev's domination of Sean Strickland in sparring won't matter in a fight, says Sean O'Malley
Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland have trained together several times, and according to the rumor mill, 'Borz' had his way with the middleweight champion during their sparring sessions.
Chimaev recently faced off against Kamaru Usman at UFC 294, and promotional CEO Dana White confirmed that the winner would receive a middleweight title shot against Strickland. The unbeaten phenom won the bout via unanimous decision and now appears set to face 'Tarzan' for the middleweight title.
Given his alleged dominance of Sean Strickland in sparring, there is an expectation that Khamzat Chimaev would defeat 'Tarzan' with ease. But according to bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley, there are stark differences between training and fight night. He said this:
"Sparring and fighting, they might as well be two different sports, in a sense. Sparring is just not a fight - in that moment, the lights, they're just different."
Watch the video below from 12:30: