Australia pays UFC big bucks to show up there, so they keep around as much Australian talent as possible. At least that's how I view it. I genuinely cant come up with a better explanation, or any other possible one at that. All 3 of his last fights have been in Australia. That´s all he is now; someone to fatten up the Australian cards with, if they keep him around.
I think Tuivasa can still turn things around somewhat(lets be honest he was never great to begin with) But he hits hard and is still somewhat durable. His problem lately has been TDD. The last two he should have won, and he would have had his TDD been a bit better.
Chim-Strickland I DKSAMMA compared to baxxin but I cant really envision any situation where Sean wins here. He struck me as kind of middle of the pack even when he was younger.
Sean survives a rough open round or two. But then starts stuffing takedowns and Chimaev starts to feel the pace... Sean piles on the pressure to secure a stoppage or eeks out a close decision. Same as it's always been with Chimaev. Sean has the style, heart and conditioning to pull it off, but does it happen? idk... probably not but it's easy to envision. Wouldn't have given Sean much of a chance especially after the DDP fights but his performance against Hernandez was very good. He's a good test for Chimaev. If Chimaev can replicate the DDP performance or improve on it then there's no one at MW for the foreseeable future that beats him. Barring a freak early knockout.
Im pumped for Chimaev Strickland lol. I get why Chimaevs the favorite, and he should probably win, but am thinking of making a parlay with Sean in it. I can see a universe where Chimaev gets tired after a couple rounds of trying to control Sean and then gets drowned in round 5. Can also see a case where Chimaev stands and trades more then he should. Anyways, can't wait.
I think it will look like Chimaev v DDP, he will take Sean down and hug him and love tap him for 5 rounds.
Its hard to imagine this fight going any different. That being said, if Strickland can get up then he still has a chance. Every round DDP was able to stay on his feet longer and longer, before being taken down. And despite being fully in control, it looked like Chimaev was the more fatigued one in the final minutes of the fights. Chimaev still has a questionable gas tank, and no matter how dominant his wrestling is, its something that takes a heavy toll on him too. If Strickland can get up early, and often, then he can tire out Chimaev to the point where they engage more in the standup, or where Strickland can actually stuff takedowns. This content is protected But hes probably going to get taken down 30 seconds into the fight and loose the first round even worse than DDP did.
Not a good stoppage. I know he took a lot of damage but he was coming back from hits like that all throughout the fight.
Now I'm not so sure if it was a bad stoppage. Every shot was landing clean. He wasn't intelligently defending himself. Can't really fault the referee.
