The former middleweight champion believes that he can correct his mistakes the second time around.
Sean Strickland was very clear that he believes he should have got his hand raised in the main event of UFC 297 where he looked to make the first defense of his middleweight title.
After beating Israel Adesanya in stunning fashion, the new champion went into a matchup with Dricus Du Plessis which ended up becoming a heated feud.
The South African challenger got the nod at the end of five rounds on that night with the narrow split decision verdict going his way despite what Strickland thinks should have happened.
They are now set to run it back in the main event of UFC 312 on February 8 where the emphasis is on the challenger to make some crucial adjustments in order to come out on top in their second encounter.
Sean Strickland suggests a change in approach at UFC 312
In a recent interview with ESPN MMA, Sean Strickland reflected on what he learned from watching his loss to Du Plessis back recently.
This was the first time that the middleweight contender had watched back one of his fights after his head coach, Eric Nicksick, forced him to during their fight camp preparations.
In Strickland’s opinion, it is the scoring criteria that cost him at UFC 297 and in order to counter that in the rematch, he wants to leave no room for doubt by putting it on the defending champion.
The 33-year-old has a unique style that combines pressure fighting with a heavy emphasis on defense but he believes that he was potentially too focused on one element in January last year.
“The hard thing was when I got that cut, it really changed the dynamic of the fight but I just think with this fight, it just needs to be a dog fight. More pressure, less skill,” Strickland said.
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Sean Strickland needs to find a way to implement his pressure
If there was one aspect of their first fight that took fans by surprise it was that Sean Strickland wasn’t able to effectively pressure Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 297.
The champion at the time had been very effective at walking opponents down, keeping them at bay, and continuing to push them for 25 minutes but this wasn’t the case at the Scotiabank Arena.
Du Plessis came in with a smart game plan and instead of expending his gas tank in the opening two rounds, he fought more conservatively than we have seen in the past so that he would have plenty left for the portion of the fight where Strickland tends to get stronger.
If sacrificing some skill is what allows him to make ‘Stillknocks’ fight his fight, Strickland could be putting himself at more risk in order to have a greater chance of earning the reward.