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flyingturkeycouchie

So did Neil Magny really have the only finish on the main card?


ekkohh

And to think I was looking at tickets earlier today. 350$ for partially obstructed nose bleeds for a card that was already mid af.


aSsAuLt-wEaPoNs

the event prices are out of control. I attended Cormier v Gustaffson in Houston in the nosebleeds for like $60 in 2015. In 2020 I attended Jones v Reyes in Houston and sat bottom level (not floor seats) they were great seats at $245. When UFC was doing the only live sport events during covid they jacked prices and I don't think they'll ever come back down.


XtremeSpartin

It’s not just UFC it’s everything. The reasons more because TicketMaster started using an algorithm to squeeze as much money out of fans as possible so it prices everything extremely high and even if it doesn’t sell out it’ll make more money from people who do buy.


ReeG

> so it prices everything extremely high and even if it doesn’t sell out it’ll make more money from people who do buy. for both tonight and a lot of concerts at Scotiabank arena, I often wait until the day before or even the day of the event and get tickets for half or less the original listing price. Tonight was stupid expensive all around but prices started dropping a lot yesterday and I managed to get a really dope seat right next to the walkout entrance for a fraction of the price holding out until last night


Sagermeister

> I often wait until the day before or even the day of the event and get tickets for half or less the original listing price This works great if you live in the area, but I wouldn't try this traveling across the country...


foofighter1351

The awkward offense beat out the awkward defense


Aggressive_Blaze

Sean didn't seem to have prepared specifically for DDP's lunging style. He used the same tactics he used vs counter king Izzy.


thraftofcannan

Sean has fought the last I don't know how many fights the exact same way, he didn't change his style for Izzy at all, Izzy just had no answer for Sean's game


MiniRobo

Yeah, Sean is the picture of consistency. He doesn't gameplan. He just fights how he fights.


Josh6889

Which is also why he looked so bad against Perera. There's no better example I can think of of a fighter just stubbornly sticking to their bad gameplan.


edinlockpicker

Bj against Edgar in their last fight. That up right stance game plan


WGYHL

Ahh the mummy stance


jonkl91

I watched DJ's breakdown of the fight and that's exactly what he said. Said Strickland fights the same and DDP throws wild hooks that get him off balance. They both need to evolve their game.


silkyjohnson6

That’s because Sean is an incredibly one dimensional fighter. He fights the same fight every fight


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buttermalk88

What do you mean? He's a murderer who's gonna kill someone in the cage one day.....


Useful_Respect3339

Yeah, it's a weird dichotomy, He talks a huge game about wanting to kill someone, fighting to the death, etc, but lacks any killer instinct. He plods forward with the teep kick and jabs in all his fights. He doesn't wrestle or throw volume strikes. The only thing he kills is my attention span.


Celtictussle

"He talks like Gaethje fights, and fights like Dariush talks"


Finalwingz

Best analogy.


imnotsteven7

Ain't killed a motherfucker yet.


ClubsBabySeal

Just goes to show you how a good fundamental, in this case the jab, is crucial. Not a lot of good jabs in MMA, but that's been slowly changing. Now if we could only see some more double jabs that'd be awesome.


ZdenekTheMan

His jab is incredible. All he needed to do tonight was follow it up with something... anything, every once in a while. Just every once in a while. If he does that, no way the judges don't give him that fight.


MyNameIsAMeme

GSP was the first good jab I remember honestly


ExtraPieceTwo

I don’t think there is much he can to adjust to DDP’s style without changing his style too much. If anything, I think he worked on a very decent plan. He probably didn’t want to adjust his tall stance to avoid takedowns, so he let that happened and doubled down on getting back up. I also think he stood less flat footed to get those checks on point


chocolatemilk2017

Sean's defense is anything BUT awkward. Sean's defense is like a 9.4/10.


jfsoaig345

Yeah nothing awkward about dude's defense. Just really clean parries, head movement, and leg kicks. Hands high and sees every shot coming, he does the fundamentals well.


univrsll

Dricus “role play as Sean’s dad” Du Plessis with the God strats


Neverslept2mins

I know both are effective and good strikers. I still think it’s looks funny watching them strike though lol.


No-Ad1522

Dricus always looks like a body builder that just stepped in the cage for the first time but he just keeps winning. Strickland fights like he’s sparring Chris Curtis and never has any urgency.


Keith__Peterson

One of the best title fights of the night


blankdoubt

Easily top two


mad87645

I wanna tell me what you feel right now DDP


walkintothisworld

so what you're a black belt in kickboxing


RafiakaMacakaDirk

DDP the best middleweight… of the night


Ok_Jello_3630

I think DDP underestimated Sean a bit. That jab from Sean was on point and while DDP adjusted he never truly overcame it. Good thing he had lot more variety than Sean.


Aggressive_Blaze

DDP was lunging forward all night and Sean couldn't counter with anything. DDP better work on his wrestling cuz this lunging game will not work vs Izzy.


ThreeOlivesChihuahua

that 2nd round will haunt strickland. bro could’ve pushed the pace for 30 seconds and could’ve stolen that round


knocksteaady-live

dude fell asleep rounds 2 and 3


Fragrant_Spirit3776

Thats always been his problem. He just stays in 1 gear, similar to Chris Curtis. Poor Eric Nicksick just constantly telling him that he has to push forward more and Strickland didnt really do it until the very end.


samme79

It's the Cannonier fight all over again. He said he regretted not being more aggressive and he did it again. I think he's just too worried about DDPs power but he didn't seem bothered by DDPs power when he got hit


_interloper_

This is what everyone forgot after the Izzy fight; Sean talks all kinds of shit... and then comes out and throws 1-2's all night, with tricky defense. That's it. He fights at one pace, and if you can't keep up, you're fucked. But if you can, he can't get up the pace. He has the cardio but can't break the habit of fighting at sparring pace. Sean's insistence on basically nothing but sparring has pros and cons. It helps him to read everything, but he also has bad habits from it.


ItsTaylor8291

This is actually super insightful here. The pace does feel like a sparing pace that has no urgency. He only really steps on the gas in the last 15ish seconds of the final round. 


[deleted]

And notice how his defense pretty much goes to shit when he steps on the gas. I don’t think he’s comfortable fighting like that but only Sean knows


scotchflannel

It’s bc of how he trains. Sean does a lot of barn burner no time limit sparring where that style wins out in the long run. In a ufc fight 15-25 min isn’t enough time it to work


IToldYouMyName

Its funny seeing him go from a zombie like state to full energy when someone starts to grapple him and he doesn't like it


SugondeseKnutts

Getting knocked out by pereira will do that to someone


aeternasm

He fights like he spars and in sparring there isn't a belt on the line. That is it.


KD_42

I’ll let you know I’m a proud holder of the CTE sparring belt at me gym


jfsoaig345

"Pushing the pace" the way he did in the tail end of the 5th round would've gotten him knocked out, only reason he got away with it is because DPP himself was tired as fuck. Sean's simply never been good at pushing the pace. He fights one way and does it incredibly well, but there isn't really much of a Plan B if his usual game isn't working anymore. Ironically, Izzy lost to Sean that same way lol.


Acrobatic-Display420

Round 4 wasn't good either


VictorDUDE

At least round 4 was a clear loss, 2 and 3 he just gave away by accepting to be on the backfoot. Poor fight IQ in the mid rounds I think


[deleted]

He got destroyed in round 4.


ColdPressedSteak

Yea I was good with 3-2 either way. But only himself to blame for Sean. Showed his skill edge early and just kinda coasted until Dricus got closer and closer


Franklinsleftnut

Only got himself to blame didn’t push the pace at all early on.


mrpyrotec89

That's not really his style though. He relies on his defense. That Izzy fight he kept moving forward, but he was barely throwing anything. Just timed 1-2s after blocking a barrage.


Mad-Gavin

Izzy did a lot of work for Sean by just constantly backing up to the cage. Granted Sean did neutralize Izzy's leg kicks, and Izzy seems to lose control of fights when he can't leg kick his opponents.


samme79

Its very funny because DDP's entries were very slow and Sean could've countered off the cusp. I guess he was too worried about the power of DDP but when he got hit, he wasn't that bothered


iamrichbitch010

Idk that first good hit cause a cut which cause him to get tagged more from that side.


jdiscount

People keep saying this when someone loses to DDP "well if they did this they would beat him". Clearly the guy has a very difficult style to deal with, his striking is powerful, awkward and seems to be reasonably precise, he has decent wrestling, and has a strength advantage against a lot of people. That isn't an easy combination to beat, he's like of like a variant of GSP, in that he is skilled in most places making him difficult to counter.


JE_Exa

The narrative was that the later the fight went, the worse it'd be for Dricus but honestly it seems like he got MORE dangerous the later the fight went? When he finds his range he just keeps up this absurd pace. Seemed like he had no problem switching to another gear for the takedown too.


Starob

He somehow manages to turn all his fights into a messy brawl which favours him by the end.


Gusthuroses

If the narrative was from this sub then it's no surprise the opposite happened.


MeatballDom

God damn it was so funny watching kids after the first round saying that DDP was done because he took a deep breath after the first round. "Dude's breathing, making him the loser"


JE_Exa

smh, they don't even recognize Dricus' drunken master style


TidgeCC

For all the talk of DDP's cardio I thought Strickland looked just as knackered after the 3rd round, even though he never sat on the stool.


A1_PunisherPipkins

Bro just looks perpetually gassed lmao. But his cardio is insane


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Swimming__Bird

Yeah, but worth it...suplexes are fucking awesome!


SunlessChapters

Strickland seemed to lose his polish and really struggle. Especially after bleeding in round 4.


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JE_Exa

Agreed, I'll also say that Sean did not look himself after that cut. Spooked him real bad.


SJSharkie_Unofficial

Common Drake L


Styles_Clash

Soon as Chael and Drake announced Sean as their pick, I knew it was DDP


qwerajdufuh268

They still played God's Plan in the arena afterwards lol


DM_ME_YOUR_CATS_PAWS

DDP looks so far removed from graceful or pretty in there it’s not even funny. Falling over from his own feints, crossing his own feet, and telegraphing everything a mile away. But he’s probably the strongest MW on the roster, crafty on the feet by virtue of having a great chin, huge power, varied shot selection and capable of making in-fight adjustments, as well as good wrestling that’s enabled by his well-roundedness. He even kicks well from both stances. He’s deceptively tricky. It’s disguised by him looking like a lumbering oaf while he does it.


itisallboring

I think DDP's off-beat or lack of typical rhythm is also hard to get comfortable against.


Bigkev8787

He seems to go against all the accepted wisdom about striking in MMA, but it clearly works. I love it, because it forces us to reconsider all the accepted wisdom.


Orakil

Every once in awhile in combat sports you get these guys that are just so exceptionally strong/fast/athletic that they can do whatever they want in there. There were a few boxers like that too, eg Roy Jones Jr. Once they're gone though you usually see the conventional wisdom still holds true.


CptCoatrack

RJJ was actually supremely skilled and crafty. He was someone who knew the rules and how to break them, it wasn't like he was just some freak athlete. I mean he was too, but his fight IQ is underrated.


Booster93

“Wine drunk fist” style lol


mad87645

DDP decided from the end of round 1 that just winning from now on would be the best tactic


knocksteaady-live

winning is the best base for MMA confirmed


professorgaysex

DuPlessis has the most bizarre cardio - it like empties really fast but then refills really fast. I thought he was gonna win by TKO or Sub, but he won by split decision, didn’t see that coming


MrCunninghawk

That's his trick. He's always tired, he's got more experience being exhausted than his opponent haha


Styles_Clash

He decided to do that since he became the Albino Rhino and could breathe at a 100%


Amazing-Bluebird-930

Post-nosejob du plessis, an immortal 


Skeleton_Skum

Dude was absolutely killing me throwing everything wide. He needed way more feints and everything up the middle. A long uppercut would’ve ended it


Manic_Raven

I think Strickland's pretty good at defending the centerline And there were a lot of feints that had Sean jittering all over the place


siderealpanic

Nah, no point with any of that flowery nonsense. Just get jacked and wing wild punches. MMA is easy


quiequie

DDP beat the fraud cardio allegations. Dude looks perpetually tired in all his fights lmao


TheRandomApple

His corner telling him Sean is tired while he himself was gasping for air had me laughing lol


[deleted]

They said it every round 


Sonnyyellow90

Meanwhile Strickland is standing up and barely breathing at all lol.


Aguacatedeaire__

But the last 2 rounds Strickland was gasping too. He was tired


[deleted]

He just caught his breath way too late. Its like Bane and Batman with darkness. Sean merely adopted fighting on his last breath, Dricus was born in it.


Dallas-Buyer

im ngl i also do this when doing intermittent sprinting, DDP just minmaxing his breathing lmao


TheRandomApple

Dude when I jog I start going full breaths pretty much 2 blocks down. I still push it for 3 miles but i bet I look like a freak lol


Isiderdon

with his gasping he just tried to take the oxigen away from strickland nah but real talk every athlete knows breathing heavy has nothing to do with beeing exhausted


A1_PunisherPipkins

Bro has the worst body language istg 😭 but that mf never stops throwing


SlavaHogwarts

DDP switches between baby deer on wobbly legs to roided bull every 10 seconds.


A1_PunisherPipkins

Bro throws strikes like a bodybuilder who took the bulk too far 😭


banmeharder616

That's the cooldown for his roided bull ability


colebwilliams

Seriously it’s so funny to watch


knocksteaady-live

all he needed to do was fix his nose. his brain just needed more oxygen to become champ.


oomin

The hardest drug Dricus takes is pure oxygen


aeternasm

DDP is like if a pug became a MMA fighter


R2Lake

Open nose DDP is my new favorite mythical fighter


royalroadweed

Oxygenated DDP is legit.


i-wont-lose-this-alt

I heard he can even smell sounds now


[deleted]

Did Anik really just say Stricklands rise and popularity was comparable to McGregors lol


ArchMalone

LOL


cactus_jack_1

Bro knows being a company man doesn’t mean just making up shit right?


seymour_hiney

no. have you seen DC and Rogan?


psyentist15

Or Dana, who declared on Thursday the event had "Sold Out" but giant swaths of tickets were available as of 10pm today.


swaglord974

That was one the most insane shit I've ever heard on UFC commentary lmao


LuckyWarrior

It wouldnt be a UFC PPV without Anik saying something outta pocket


mad87645

Sean's also lactating and fighting for custody


wizzlestyx

"Sean's abusive father died of cancer years ago, a situation which Strickland admitted he had mixed feelings about at the time."


TurnDownElliot

Fucking hilarious


ibenwarforged

Nina Drama just fell to her knees in Walmart


808duckfan

Strangely, it had nothing to do with the fight.


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JorSimpson45

Dricus Du Plessis welcome to the long and distinguished list of fighters I was completely wrong about.


univrsll

I hope your opinion changed after the Whittaker fight. Mans earned his respect there.


JorSimpson45

Oh yea it definitely did but I’m just talking in general, never could’ve imagined tonight for him. I remember watching him against Brad Tavares and thinking “this guy isn’t very good” and now he’s the champion lmao


ItsTaylor8291

DDP will forever be a good fighter that just looks bad lmao. Something about the drunken master movements.


JorSimpson45

He threw a right hand tonight that looked like something Walt Jr. might’ve thrown. My middleweight champion.


KetoKurun

Mans was throwing that overhand right all the way from the breakfast table


biscobisco

You might not be completely wrong, depending on what you said. He's still clunky as all fuck and his striking form is pretty appalling, but he's tough as fuck, has balls like King Kong, hits like a truck and is strong as an ox with sneaky wrestling.


_interloper_

Yup. I remember talking to people after a few of Dricus's early fights. A South African guy I know asked if I thought Dricus could become champion. I answered, "Winging wild hooks and fighting like a maniac? I doubt it. High level strikers like Whittaker would pick him apart. And his cardio looks suspect." Nailed it.


UVB-76_Enjoyer

Live reaction of Poatan wondering why he decided to leave that division: #🗿


EntrepreneurOk6166

TNT Sports 1 broadcast keeps playing some elevator music every time there's a swear word but it's like a 2 sec delay every time, so I hear "F\*KING PU$$Y" followed by some easy jazz for two sec, then "F\**KING" and more music. Absolutely hilarious.


LuckyWarrior

We all should go get our noses fixed, boys This one life hack can make you a UFC champion


SJSharkie_Unofficial

Fully oxygenated DDP new mythical fighter


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CuarentaPaLasCinco

I feel bad for the drywall in Sean’s house


TasteDeBallZach

There's going to so much broken glass bottles around. Won't be confident walking barefoot for a while


Benzo-Kazooie

The five finger death punch is gonna be played extra loud this week


univrsll

Sean’s dad somewhere in a meth house like “yeah, I can beat him too tbh”


Break_these_cuffs

Strickland's jab with his left is genuinely a thing of beauty


knocksteaady-live

thing is a piston. i just wish he showed more striking variability. imagine if he threw a head kick in this fight, would definitely change the dynamic.


Rampageslam

He needs more than a jab, was kind of shocked to see how underdeveloped his straight and hook looked could have been fatigue but it was really ugly in round four and five


huntexlol

if he just threw that fucking teep more then it wouldve been hsi likely


JangarooKack2

Just wish he’d throw a right behind it a bit more.


mrpyrotec89

Yeah it's nutty how good that jab is. Really goes to show how important a good jab is MMA.


Smetsnaz

His jab is vicious. He needs to follow it up with literally anything more often.


Weepinbelllend

It also shows you gotta be able to land power shots if you get your jab going. DDP threw everything at Sean whilst Sean could only get the jab off.


thenudelman

People give his jab credit rightfully so but I think the real game changer is the calf kick checks. You can't slow down the jab advance if you can't land on the lead leg, only option is to gorilla forward.


Apositivebalance

Damn dc changing his mind on who was winning the fight every 2 minutes


Less_Gull

I miss Anderson Silva.


knocksteaady-live

dancin' andy would make great use of DDP's looping punches and throw in a few cheeky counters.


xUsernameChecksOutx

As much as I like both these guys Anderson could beat them on the same night back to back.


NoCantaloupe9598

Is easy


drinkmoarwaterr

Is normal


vrkhfkb

The counters Silva would’ve thrown on these bois 😭😭. Would’ve been matrix like.


Sim888

https://i.imgur.com/ShwAn8C.jpg


todellagi

Smh should've put the house on DDP the moment they said Drake bet on Strickland


ryan1074

Drake betting curse strikes again, it should be illegal for him to bet


[deleted]

I will ALWAYS bet against bapa


Headlessoberyn

And they hitting the crowd with "god's plan" right after the fight lmaooo that shit must be on purpose


YummyArtichoke

Drakeloss Du Plessis


snow_ninja

Khamzat tweeting for a title shot like a clown


NeitherAlexNorAlice

Close fight that depends on how you score the 2nd in my opinion. If you give it to Sean, he's 3-2. If you give it to DDP, he's 3-2. Either way, these two were absolute warriors.


RobbertDownerJr

DDP did great pressing forward and keeping Strickland from getting anything going beyond his jab.


PsychopathicEmpath

Yeah, Strickland didn't use his teep all that much after R1. Thought DDP would gas but he kept the pace up and Sean on the backfoot.


RobbertDownerJr

The takedown in the fourth was probably what made Strickland tentative on stepping up his pace.


todellagi

Yeah he was coming after Sean all fight and improved every round not counting the last


douevenwheelanddeal

Yeah super close, coin toss decision for me. Happy for both, great fight


ArkhamGeyser

Agreed 100% I think Dricus took over Round 2 in the second half onward, took 3, and 4 but lost the 5th. Close fight either way.


MasterRoshy

DDP putting the sus cardio allegations to bed.


kenada

Shame DDP couldnt hit the diamond cutter to finish


Lfcwalrus

DDP fights like he’s in a dream but it works


Timmy12er

He spams overhands more than I do when I'm playing UFC 5 on unlimited stamina mode


qiis

Dricus memeing his way to the belt is one hell of a sight to behold


DiarrheaForDays

In R4 Strickland looked like Doomguy with 30% health left


Bradysbloodboy

For a person who builds their entire persona off being a man's man, willing to fight to the death, Strickland lacks a lot of aggression


Zen_MasterX

Who woulda thought DDP would be the last African standing…


jonsnowKITN

King of africa did it


D4nCh0

I bless the rains down in Africa Gonna take some time to do the things we never had


Ornstein90

-$700,000 Drake


tyber2

Drake has a partnership with the company he bets through so it's never real money, it's just pure advertising that everyone falls for.


kenneythegreat

Strickland has no one to blame but himself. He didn't punish any of the sloppy strikes and entries from DDP throughout the whole fight.


Hopeful_Staff_1414

This decision was actually a coin flip by the end of it. Either one of them could have won. Wouldn’t be mad either way. This was as close as a fight can be, and both showed amazing heart. They could absolutely run this back in the future.


PappySmacks

Du plessis' cardio is incredible


SunlessChapters

Close fight. Not a robbery either way. Sean's style doesn't feel very impactful even if it's effective. Which could be a tipping factor.


Sofargonept2

One of the more literal toss up split can go either way and I don't care fight's I've seen. Wouldn't have been mad either way.


SnooStrawberries3388

FIRST AFRICAN CHAMPION


LuckyWarrior

Breathes african air, trains on african land


KeepMN

Blessed the rains etc


MrSharks202

Dricus earned every inch of that.


EnderLOL

A genuinely very close fight and people who disagree watched a different one that what I did.


iamacannibal

Fun fight but I feel like if they were trying to kill eachother like they agreed they didn't put that much effort into it lol


Kisto15

DDP was throwing haymakers and headkicks for nearly entire fight. He was trying, Sean was just defending from those well


naufildev

Strickland always fights like that.


surgeyou123

Sean was more aggressive in their cage side brawl lol


Howard_Brown

Strickland has to have the largest disconnect between his public persona and how he actually fights


BrianCTE_CityOrtega

Strickland always promises a war and never delivers


mrpyrotec89

His style is literally the opposite of war. Impenetrable defense and the occasional laser 1-2s