UFC Coach Feels ‘Cheated’ By Sean Strickland: ‘He’s Not That Guy’

Sean Strickland’s performance at UFC 312 has been brutally critiqued by seasoned MMA coach Din Thomas, who aired his frustration at watching the former middleweight champion lose a wide decision to Dricus Du Plessis in their main event title fight in Sydney.

Strickland, who talked up his chances ahead of the rematch, and promised to go to war with Du Plessis in the rematch, struggled to get out of second gear in a fight that saw Du Plessis dominate virtually from start to finish.

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For Thomas, it was a sign that, for all of Strickland’s big words before the fight, there wasn’t the substance to back it up when it mattered most.

“Well, we just have to admit it now,” he said on the UFC 312 post-fight show.

“We have to admit it. Sean Strickland is not who he says he is. He’s not who he says he is.

“We want him to be something. He wants to be something, but he’s not that guy.

“He’s not the guy who’s going to go ‘to the death, to the death!’ He didn’t go to the death. He didn’t even go to the well, he didn’t even go deep.

“I’m not saying he’s not a great fighter. I’m not saying he doesn’t deserve to be where he’s at, but he’s not who he says he is. We gotta admit that.”

Thomas’ view was supported by fellow panelist and former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Smith, who said that Strickland struggles in fights where he’s not controlling the pace and the action.

“Sean Strickland is a front runner,” Smith suggested.

“He has to get out front early, he has to start fast, and he has to start putting rounds in the bank because he can’t… He’s not a guy that can be in second place and start closing the distance. It’s not his fault. It’s not his style.

“He doesn’t have the one-punch knockout power. He’s not a dominant offensive wrestler. He’s not a submission guy, and he’s just not much of a finisher.

“So, once he loses the first round, I start getting nervous for him. Once he loses the second round, now I’m really nervous. He has to win the third.

“If he doesn’t win that first, second, and third round, Sean Strickland can’t win, and he’s at this point in his career, I don’t know that that’s something he can change.”

The most frustrating aspect of Strickland’s performance for Thomas was the knowledge that Strickland is capable of much more than he showed in the Octagon in Sydney.

Strickland is famed for his sparring skills, and has had several gym wars with training partners over the years. But, when push came to shove in a title rematch under the bright lights of the Octagon, Strickland appeared to fight within himself, rather than raising his game and trying to take the fight by the scruff of the neck. That left Thomas feeling frustrated, as he explained.

“That is my point as a coach. I feel for (Strickland’s coach at Xtreme Couture) Eric Nicksick, because I know what that’s like, and I don’t even want to go and be in that situation again,” he said.

More news: UFC 312: Dricus Du Plessis Outworks Sean Strickland For Dominant Victory In Title Rematch

“I know I’m hard on Sean Strickland. I know it, but it’s because I’m cheated. I feel cheated by you.

“I hear about these gym stories and these wars that you get into. I hear about how great you are. And then you go in these fights, these high-level fights, and you give us that. You cheat us, you jab and you kick, and I know you’re capable of much more. We want to see that.

“That’s what I want to see from Sean Strickland. I don’t want to see him jab his way to losses. I want to see him give me what he’s capable of. I want to see the full potential of Sean Strickland.”

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