- Michael Bisping thinks Sean Strickland was feeling the pressure all throughout UFC 297
- “The Count” wants to see “Tarzan” rematch Jared Cannonier
Michael Bispin weighed in on Sean Strickland’s UFC 297 loss to Dricus du Plessis and suggested a perfect opponent for the now-former middleweight champion.
Sean was pressured
Speaking on his Believe You Me podcast, “The Count” said he noticed that Strickland looked “really nervous” as soon as he walked out. Bisping explained that it was a normal feeling as the pressure mounts once a fighter becomes the champ.
“Sean, I thought when he walked out there, he looked really really nervous,” Bisping said. “Because the difference is Sean is always, in the past, he’s kind of always been very honest with his feelings and feels like he doesn’t even belong in this situation and I’m sure a lot of people can resonate with that but when you become the champion… the situation completely changes when you’re going somewhere to another country and you’re on the plane and then Du Plessis is there and he’s beating 20 people, 19 stoppages and you’re like, ‘This guy can take it all away.’ The pressure is unbelievable.”
Sean lost
In the end, Bisping reckoned that he thinks “Stillknocks” might have beaten Strickland three rounds to two.
“Very close. I honestly didn’t know who was going to get it and I don’t have a problem, I don’t have an issue with the scoring at all and congrats to both of them actually on a great hard fight but I definitely I do think Strickland lost [rounds] 3 and 4 might have lost 2 maybe,” Bisping assessed.
Strickland ultimately blamed his loss on an eye cut which he claims was a result of a headbutt by Du Plessis. As per Bisping, things like that happen and there’s nothing he can do about it but just fight.
“A headbutt is intentional, a clash of heads is accidental and maybe there was an accidental clash of heads. [headbutt] It happens a lot it like when I fought Rockhold the first time, he headbutted me boom and I’ve only got one eye I got one eye not even two eyes,” he pointed out.
A rematch with Jared
As for what’s next for Strickland, Bisping said it would be fitting to see “Tarzan” rematch Jared Cannonier, the top contender who beat him via decision in the past. For the Brit, Strickland deserves to get another title shot but he needs to prove that he could beat another title challenger first.
“We’ll do Dricus-Israel Adesanya in one of those events [UFC 300 or IFW] in the meantime, Sean Strickland rematches Jared Cannonier because Jared Cannonier is the only one realistically right now with another claim at the belt so you have Sean, allow him to get a chance to right the wrongs… It gives him an ability to go out there right that wrong, get a win, beat one of the top contenders, eradicate that loss, make some improvements to his style and then fight again the winner of Dricus and Izzy or whoever that is because he’s got history with both,” Bisping suggested.
As it stands, Strickland is unlikely to get a quick rematch with Du Plessis. With Cannonier at No. 4 and coming off a win against another top contender in Marvin Vettori, it seems like a rematch with “Tarzan” would make sense.
Check out Bisping’s full podcast below:
