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Uriah Hall vs. Sean Strickland breakdown
I was given two solid pieces of advice by a horse breeder that I’ll never forget; don’t bet on horses and never give tips. She would probably say the exact same if she was an MMA fan, as that can be just as seemingly random as horse racing.
Both men show a lot of similarities; slow to start in Round 1, serious power in their right hands, good ground and pound, hate the back foot. Both men also prefer fighting orthodox so it looks like it will be a closed guard matchup. Of the two men, Uriah Hall possess the deeper bag of tricks (we probably won’t see a shoulder crank but you never know) and Sean Strickland possess the durability of a zombie so less discuss their keys to success at UFC Fight Night: Hall vs. Strickland.
Keys Sean Strickland’s success
One of the tendencies Uriah Hall never dropped is his approach when his back is to the fence. He does Golden Age era Anderson Silva impression then circles out with his hands down, into a left hook. Hall was pressured to the fence in the fight with Jotko and got caught there for the better part of the first round. Hall is a slow starter, he often flicks out the jab as a feint but rarely does much with it. He displayed a hard jab against Costa and fought his way off the fence with some knees from the clinch but ultimately got swarmed along the fence.
Bevon Lewis had good results smothering Hall’s hands against the fence and in the center of the Octagon. Strickland does this on occasion so it may be something useful to him. We see it very seldom from Strickland but some body work would serve him well along the fence, much like Costa’s performance opposite Hall.
Strickland is pretty great at catching punches, so pitching them back at Uriah is a good move. Gegard Mousasi had great success on the ground in both of their fights and applied ground and pound liberally. Hall is at his best in the middle of the Octagon, where he does get clipped with left hooks and jabs but other than looks well. Robert Whittaker’s success in their fight came from landing blows from grappling exchanges. So really the gold standard plan for Strickland would be to start early (which can be difficult for him sometimes) get Hall to the fence and keep him there. Either pour it on him standing or drag him to the matt.
Key’s to Uriah Hall’s success
Strickland fights out of the orthodox stance, I’ve watched all of his fights since 2016 and he has not changed much other than the fact that he kicks a bit and he’s pretty defensively savvy on his back. He has a good 1-2, with solid power in his right hand, and a good left hook. He smothers the lead hand and catches punches with his shoulders. He doesn’t care about kicks and just absorbs them or tries to catch them and drag them across his opponents body. Of all the fights I’ve watched of his he only timed it once and scored a trip on Brendan Allen. He gets comfortable in the first and gets a finish if his opponents get tired and then he puts his foot on the throttle and swarms them with punches.
Uriah Hall can use Strickland’s appetite for lead legs kick to full effect. I watched a lot of tape on Strickland for this breakdown and he barely checks anything or he tries to scoop the kick. Taleb did not really have much of an answer when it came to the hands but he teed off on Strickland’s lead leg at will almost. A cheeky calf kick into a question mark kick might be an idea as Hall does have the variety in his arsenal to pull it off.
Strickland is also solid when he is pushing the action, probing for an entry and then once he finds it he lets his hands fly. On the backfoot though he does not have much in the way of offence and often leaves the pocket on a straight line. Hall could definitely find a home for the overhand right if he sets it up with a combination but it really depends on what stance Uriah fights out of for this one. Kamauru Usman set up the overhand right well when he faced Strickland but the height difference would often result in Usman clipping his shoulder instead, same goes for Jack Marshman. Brendan Allen, probably the only fighter to ever have a height advantage over Strickland, landed a clean overhand right a few times during their bout.
Uriah’s right hand is quiet versatile, whether it a hook, a straight, or an overhand. He can even catch his man going backwards.
Strickland often shells up and protects himself with his right arm, which is also a his good one. Hall could mix his kicks upstairs on and downstairs, slowing Strickland’s movement and damaging his best weapon at the same time. Uriah Hall is a combination of solid strip mall Karate and an absolute shotgun blast of a right hand, if he can establish the distance and the pace on his terms he may even score a finish.
Then again, the only time Strickland was finished was against Uriah Hall’s signature move, rarely does anyone throw anything unpredictable Strickland’s way and Uriah has a serious toolbelt. If a fight goes on long enough, Uriah will throw the kick (for brand management purposes at this point I suppose).
The whirlwind surrounding Ryan Garcia’s victory over Devin Haney last weekend is just beginning to settle down but it seems the controversial boxer is intent on staying in the headlines as he eyes UFC champion, Sean O’Malley.
The bizarre lead up to the fight with Haney was plagued with erratic behaviour on Garcia’s part, rumours of a mental breakdown, signs of alcohol and drug issues, and generally controversial behaviour. Garcia missed weight by 3.2lbs, and appeared to chug a beer on the scales during the weigh ins.
Entering the fight as an underdog, Garcia surprised everybody by dropping Haney three times and emerging victorious by majority decision. After the fight, Garcia insisted he drank and smoked every day in the build up to the fight and still picked up the win. This shocking turn of events has now opened up a variety of possible lucrative match ups for Garcia going forward, and it seems one MMA superstar wants a piece of that action.
The UFC hasn’t sanctioned a boxing crossover bout since Conor McGregor faced Floyd Mayweather back in 2017. ‘Suga’ Sean O’Malley has long campaigned for the opportunity to test his striking skills against Garcia, and this week on his podcast The Timbo Sugar Show, he insisted that the UFC have already given him the green light to seek out some opportunities in the boxing ring:
“A boxing fight’s possible for sure. I’m not there yet. I’ve still got to become bigger. Two more f*cking sick performances, then we’re talking about being able to do it.
O’Malley continued: “They told me ‘You can do a boxing fight, 100 percent, if it makes us enough money’. The option is there, it just has to be able to make enough money. But Ryan being a f*cking freak like that, you need two A-sides to make a f*cking Floyd v Conor fight”.
Ryan Garcia tweeted an image of himself and O’Malley this week with the caption: “RAINBOW CACA BRAIN. WANTS TO BOX. BE PREPARED TO BLEED RAINBOW”
RAINBOW CACA BRAIN
— RYAN GARCIA (@RyanGarcia) April 22, 2024
WANTS TO BOX
BE PREPARED TO BLEED RAINBOW pic.twitter.com/GGrvV7ZSCH
Sean O’Malley became the UFC’s bantamweight champion when he knocked out Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 last August. He then defended the belt and avenged the only loss on his record when he dominated Marlon Vera over five rounds at UFC 299 in March.
The next step in the fascinating UFC journey of Alex Pereira remains to be seen. ‘Poatan’ pulled off a sensational knockout finish over Jamahal Hill in the first round of their main event bout at UFC 300 to defend his light heavyweight belt.
In his post-fight interview, the Brazilian called for the opportunity to compete at heavyweight at UFC 301 which takes place in Rio De Janeiro in just a couple of weeks. UFC president Dana White seemed unenthusiastic about that idea, however, and it seems now that the dust has settled after 300, Pereira is a little more willing to take his time before signing up for his next fight.
In an interview with MMA Fighting’s Trocacao Franca podcast, Pereira was asked if he’d rather defend his 205lb title again or test the waters in the heavyweight division. He responded:
“It’s hard to answer that. I haven’t thought too much about it yet. If it’s a longer period of time, I’d obviously rather defend my belt. If it takes too long and I fight at heavyweight and there are injuries, when am I going to defend my belt? I don’t want to hold up the division.
I was imagining the best-case scenario when I called for a heavyweight fight at UFC 301, but I have two broken toes. Both feet are f*cked. It’s complicated. I don’t want to hold up the light heavyweight division. A cool scenario would have been fighting at heavyweight at 301 and then giving the opportunity to someone to fight for the light heavyweight belt next. I think that would have been cool”.
205lb contender Magomed Ankalaev has called for a fight with Pereira on the UFC’s October pay-per-view card in Abu Dhabi, but ‘Poatan’ brushed that idea off instantly, saying:
“I don’t want to fight at the end of the year. I want to fight sooner, so maybe that shows he won’t be ready. I don’t know why he said that. This guy is complicated”.
If Pereira manages to get another win under his belt and is ready to go again before the end of the year, he said he would much rather compete on the Madison Square Garden event in November, which is closer to his current home in Danbury.
“It makes total sense” he said. “Wait one more month and I’m fighting at home? It’s so much better”.
ONE Championship’s striking roster has continued to flourish in 2024, and it got even stronger this week with the announcement of another elite kickboxer putting pen to paper in the world’s largest martial arts organization. Japanese megastar Masaaki Noiri has officially inked a deal with ONE, and he’s set to add further depth to the stand-up ranks.
Noiri is a former two-division K-1 World Champion and Grand Prix Champion, and he’s also a former WBC Japanese Muay Thai Champion.
Fighting in ONE will allow him to switch between the two sports whenever he wants, and this is an exciting prospect for the 30-year-old.
“As ONE officially announced, I have signed a contract with ONE Championship, the highest stage for striking. If I want to pursue being the strongest in the world that I believe in, this is a stage I have to challenge on,” Noiri said.
“I believe ONE is the ultimate stage for striking, so I wanted to challenge myself in that ring. I’m pursuing to be the strongest in the world through martial arts, so I chose this path to test if the current Masaaki Noiri can make it in ONE.”
It would be remiss of ONE’s hottest new signing not to have World Title ambitions as he embarks on his new journey.
However, along with gold, Noiri’s looking to show the world what strikers from his country can do, and he hopes a world-class compatriot can help him in that mission.
“[My plan is] to definitely win the ONE world title,” Noiri said.
“Not just me, but together with Takeru Segawa. And we’ll prove the strength of Japanese fighters to the world.”
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