Daniel Cormier is sold on Sean Strickland after UFC Fight Night 267.
Strickland (30-7 MMA, 17-7 UFC) came up big as an underdog when he finished Anthony Hernandez (15-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC) in Saturday’s main event at Toyota Center in Houston, snapping “Fluffy’s” eight-fight winning streak.
Advertisement
Strickland called for a title shot against UFC middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev, who no one has had an answer for so far. Chimaev claims both he and his training partner submitted Strickland in practice, but after what Cormier saw in the UFC Houston main event, he thinks we’re in for a fight.
“Can Sean defend Khamzat to the point that he doesn’t get ridden out and taken down and controlled for 25 minutes? I don’t know that,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “But I’ll tell you one thing that I do know is if that guy that showed up (Saturday) shows up in that fight, it would be a much more difficult a fight for the great Khamzat Chimaev. Because even Israel Adesanya at the peak of his power struggled with that version of Sean Strickland.
“In the Dricus Du Plessis fight, it didn’t seem like Sean was locked all the way in. He seemed a little messed up, and it showed. It showed in his body language, his posture, his lack of confidence, it showed in his coach getting frustrated. There were are number of reasons why he didn’t look the same, but (Saturday), he looked the same. He looked like the guy who became world champion.”
Strickland revealed that he was “pressured” by the promotion into taking the Dricus Du Plessis title-fight rematch at UFC 312 after injuring his shoulder in a motorcycle accident. His loss against Du Plessis caused a rift with his head coach Eric Nicksick, who felt Strickland’s performance was uninspiring. However, by beating Hernandez, the former champion snapped is back in the win column and could find himself in the title picture again.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Now, Daniel Cormier can see Sean Strickland testing Khamzat Chimaev
