Sean Strickland defeated Israel Adesanya to become the new UFC middleweight champion in a fight that has been deemed the second biggest upset in MMA history; Strickland won not through fluke or luck but by comprehensively outperforming Adesanya.
Last week, some extraordinary changes took place in mixed martial arts. Even a week ago, these alterations would have seemed impossible, even provoking chaos in the streets. Surprisingly, MMA Fighting decided to change the name of this regular column. The nomenclature “Hot Tweets” apparently was unsuitable for this recurring blog. Somehow, the phrase was considered “incredibly stupid” and “gratingly incoherent”. Though it was shocking news, we eventually adjusted to this new reality and began referring to this column as a mailbag.
Meanwhile, in other major MMA updates, Sean Strickland outperformed Israel Adesanya throughout a 25-minute combat, securing the title of the new UFC middleweight champion on Saturday. As spectators, we still grapple with the happenings of the match. Strickland didn’t just win by a stroke of luck or divine intervention, he literally defeated Adesanya. Just 14 months ago, Strickland was at the receiving end of a brutal onslaught from Alex Pereira, leaving him with a two-fight losing streak at the start of the year. Despite all odds, he went to Sydney and mercilessly defeated Izzy.
The victory, however, might be viewed as the second biggest upset in MMA history, behind Matt Serra against Georges St-Pierre. Strickland was hardly expected to win this match, even his coach, Eric Nicksick, confessed that Adesanya posed a challenging fight. While the fight certainly represented a significant upset, the view could change in the coming years as Strickland’s skillset evolves. He might have genuinely improved, and if that’s the case, this match wouldn’t remain a great upset for long.
On the other hand, there is a possibility that Adesanya is past his prime. Unfortunately, performance can decline after about 13 years in combat sports, and Adesanya has already been a professional fighter for such long. After 113 professional fights across boxing, kickboxing, and MMA, the wear and tear might start to show. If shadow of decline is already looming over Adesanya, this upset may be looked at less gloriously in future years. Regardless, the recent changes in MMA clearly reflect that anything can happen in the sport.