Sean Strickland was in need of a rebound when he touched down in Canada in 2018, and he got it in a big way.
Strickland was sitting at 6-3 in the UFC, but had dropped two of three fights – to eventual welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and Elizeu Zaleski – when he signed up for a bout with Nordine Taleb on the UFC Fight Night 138 prelims in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada.
After a competitive first round, Strickland dropped Taleb with a right hand a couple minutes into the second frame. That was the beginning of the end for Taleb, who found himself on the canvas eating punches from Strickland until the ref stopped the fight. Taleb protested the stoppage, but Strickland was back on track anyway.
That win for Strickland started a six-fight winning streak that included a move to middleweight and victories over Uriah Hall and Jack Hermansson and eventually got Strickland a fight with Alex Pereira – whose knockout of Strickland earned him a title shot, and win, against Israel Adesanya.
Saturday, Strickland (25-5 MMA, 12-5 UFC) returns on short notice for a main event against Nassourdine Imavov (12-3 MMA, 4-1 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 217 in Las Vegas. They’ll fight at light heavyweight after Strickland stepped in on just five days’ notice for the headliner when Kelvin Gastelum pulled out earlier this week.
Strickland headlined UFC Fight Night 216 against Jared Cannonier to close out the UFC’s 2022 calendar year, and now he’ll headline the first UFC event of 2023. Before that main event, check out his win over Taleb in the video above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 217.
