In the aftermath of losing his UFC Middleweight Title against Dricus du Plessis at UFC 297, we have decided to take a deep dive into the MMA career of Sean Strickland. Read on to find out more about his professional MMA record, his UFC record and how many knockouts he has under his belt.
Sean Strickland Record
Sean Strickland turned professional back in 2008 with a debut submission victory against Tyler Pottett in Laughlin, Nevada. Since then, Strickland has had another 33 professional MMA fights, winning all but six of them.
Thus far, Strickland’s career has been a stellar one in MMA to date. ‘Tarzan’ has some huge wins in recent time in the UFC over the likes of Urijah Hall, Jack Hermansson, Nassourdine Imavov, Abusupiyan Magomedov and of course Israel Adesanya to name but a few.
Sean Strickland won UFC gold at the first time of asking at UFC 293, upsetting the odds as the huge underdog with UFC betting sites by defeating the great Israel Adesanya to claim the UFC Middleweight Title. His career up to now has been a pretty remarkable one, and he still has some potentially huge nights left before he hangs his gloves up.
As previously mentioned, Sean Strickland made his professional MMA debut over 15 years ago now. He was on a KOTC: Protégé card where he made the perfect start to his career by winning via second round submission. Strickland then had 12 more fights as a pro MMA fighter before signing a deal with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
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Sean Strickland has literally fought everyone in the UFC. He has fought every single fighter in and around the middleweight division, as well as trying his luck up at light-heavyweight and down at welterweight in the past too. The California MMA superstar won his first UFC fight, defeating Bubba McDaniel at UFC 171, winning the fight via submission in Round 1 in Dallas, Texas.
After that debut victory in the UFC, Strickland won his next fight against Luke Barnatt, before losing for the first time in his career against Santiago Ponzinibbio on his welterweight debut in the UFC. ‘Tarzan’ then bounced back with three consecutive victories in the UFC, before losing for the second time in his career to a certain Kamaru Usman, who would of course go on to become UFC Welterweight Champion.
Just like before, Strickland bounced back after defeat, beating Court McGee in Norfolk, Virginia via unanimous decision in November 2017. Strickland then suffered the most damaging defeat of his career next, losing via emphatic spinning wheel kick KO to Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos in Round 1 of their welterweight bout in Brazil.
However, Strickland then went on a six fight winning streak, which included a return to 185-pounds too. He defeated the likes of Urijah Hall and Jack Hermansson during this period, throwing him name right back into the title picture at middleweight.
Then came two back-to-back defeats for Strickland to Alex Pereira and Jared Cannonier respectively. However, the 1991-born MMA star didn’t let that affect him, bouncing back in style with two wins over Nassourdine Imavov and Abusupiyan Magomedov.
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The came Strickland’s crowning night. At UFC 293 in Sydney, Australia on September 9, ‘Tarzan’ became the UFC Middleweight king. The American put in a magnificent display, defeating Israel Adesanya comfortably via unanimous decision to claim the UFC Middleweight Title at the first time of asking.
However, ‘Tarzan’ lost the best when attempting to make his first defence at UFC 297 against Dricus du Plessis. The fight was extremely close, with the South African getting the nod via tight decision. There could well be a rematch on the cards next, given how competitive, fun and close the fight was.
That takes us up to now in the career of Sean Strickland. There is no doubt that ‘Tarzan’ is one of the best 185-pound fighters in the world and is a deserving former champion. Not only that, but he is always in entertaining fights and will fight any man put in front of him.
The list of names the 32-year-old has defeated is pretty emphatic. Israel Adesanya, Urijah Hall, Jack Hermansson, Nassourdine Imavov and Abusupiyan Magomedov are just some of the stellar names Strickland has defeated in his stellar UFC career to date.
Be sure to claim the various sports betting apps and UFC free bets available on the SportsLens site ahead of Strickland’s next fight.
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