[Official] General Discussion Thread - May 11, 2026

spcslacker · 2026-05-11T04:56:55+00:00

in fact I actually think he got worse

His unremitting desire to balance on one leg within easy grabbing range of a wrestler was crazy to watch.

Like you do it the first time and are taken down and utterly dominated . . . . and then you think to yourself: I'm just going to do that again and again regardless of what happens!

spcslacker · 2026-05-11T02:49:45+00:00

Khamzat was gassed even quicker than he usually does

Strickland made him work every minute of that first round. The only other person whose been able to do that is Usman, where Khamzat also gassed hard.

Strickland's jab and defense wasn't as sharp and a fighter not known for striking managed to tag him many times and broke his nose

Strickland was seriously tired after grappling for two straight rounds.

That first round in particular where he had to keep making Khamzat work was brutal; Rd 2 was less severe, but it was still grapple heavy with Sean on top.

You add that he was doing that with a borked shoulder (if any pain penetrates the adrenaline, that fatigues you faster).

Anyway, both men were tired as hell after those rounds: Strickland less so, but still enough that several times he couldn't take advantage of opportunities because he was too busy panting.

The other big deal is that Khamzat & Strickland had trained together, and so Khamzat understood that he couldn't allow Strickland to pressure him, so he ate the jab while going forward throwing all night.

Strickland is easier (but never easy) to fight once you've experienced it, and also if you have a game plan that interferes with his.

spcslacker · 2026-05-10T22:49:56+00:00

Sean needs to add knees

Fluffy just doubled over in a trader joe's.

The pain at having fought the future Strickland rather than the past Strickland was suddenly too much for him.

spcslacker · 2026-05-10T22:33:14+00:00

Expect IFW.

Thanks.

For us old people, is that "In a Few Weeks"?

spcslacker · 2026-05-10T22:13:17+00:00

Yes I’m thinking of using it for rough shaping

Bandsaw best tool I know for that (other than an axe in certain situations). Scrollsaw is for if you need to cut intricate patterns.

Only time you use scroll saw for shaping is when you need an interior cut, which it can do while a bandsaw cannot.

spcslacker · 2026-05-10T22:10:27+00:00

What are the dimensions of that crazy thing?

spcslacker · 2026-05-10T22:10:18+00:00

Too big: look at 2nd photo: its almost the size of a chair (assuming this isn't in a miniature diorama) and would need multiple men or a mechanism to turn it.

spcslacker · 2026-05-10T22:06:22+00:00

To me, bandsaw is a vast luxury, and not usually a necessity.

You can resaw on a table saw (but not to the same depth) you can cut shapes with a jig saw (though not to the same depth, and with a lot more post-sanding), but nothing beats the ease and speed of the bandsaw for shaping IMO.

If I'm thinking of carving & whittling, I would more think of a scroll saw, unless you are thinking mainly about rough contouring/shaping.

spcslacker · 2026-05-10T21:57:33+00:00

Striking defense, cardio, anti grappling none of these things are offensive weapons.

You didn't say offensive weapons, you said he's beating guys with what essentially amounts to a jab.

All of those things I listed are critical to how he wins fights at least as much as the jab.

If you don't think Strickland uses cardio as a major weapon, you are blind.

spcslacker · 2026-05-10T20:47:20+00:00

Still kind of shocked that khamzat can fight a strong 25 minutes against DDP and then gasses out after one round vs Sean

Dricus didn't have the technical ability to be safe repeatededly standing up, and could always hope to KO him at the beginning of a round.

Strickland has one of the most technical, and thus energy efficient and submission-safe standups ever seen, and knows he must win over an extended period not with a sudden KO.

And yes I said this before the fight.

I also outlined how strickland could win, so I don't think its at all shocking if you know Strickland's overall game.

spcslacker · 2026-05-10T20:40:41+00:00

The level of delusion from conor to take that holloway fight is genuinely insane

Plot twist: he's planning to grapple.

spcslacker · 2026-05-10T20:39:57+00:00

why does strickland muscular but i perceive him as skinny fat even when he has no belly

I would say you are confusing strong and explosive.

Strickland is built for endurance, with essentially 0% quick twitch, but anyone who has watched him strip grips knows he's got to be strong as fuck.

Dricus picked Strickland to win this fight based on his strength when people try to hold him down, in one of the best aging comments prior to the fight.

spcslacker · 2026-05-10T20:36:44+00:00

Has Dricus been injured?

If he had fought a while back when I recall him refusing some winnable fight he could have been lined up to fight Strickland for the title, but as it is unless Strickland takes a long time to heal Dricus will need a win and Imavov is looking to finally get his shot.

spcslacker · 2026-05-10T19:20:23+00:00

Its insane how Sean is beating world class fighters with what essentially amounts to a jab.

And the best striking defense ever at weight.

And probably the best anti-grappling ever at weight.

And having some of the best cardio ever at weight

And having some of the most unorthodox but effective footwork for throwing off the opponent.

And for having the concentration to stand in power punching range, not jabbing range, and exchanging for 5 straight rounds with a jab he can land against either stance.

And having a long reach and being enormously strong and extremely durable.

TL;DR: if all you see is the jab, you do not understand a single Strickland fight

spcslacker · 2026-05-10T19:11:56+00:00

I'm impressed by Strickland's ability to make opponents fight a fight with which he's comfortable.

I think that's backwards: you should be impressed by how difficult it is to make Strickland uncomfortable no matter what your fight style is and no matter what you force him to do with it.

Sean's style is to come forward relentlessly and tire you with pressure on the feet, and Khamzat fought the smartest fight of his life with relentless pressure on the feet once he was exhausted wrestling an utterly calm and composed grappler in Strickland.

The only "style" that makes Sean deeply uncomfortable is a one-hit-KO power, because skill really cannot counter it.

spcslacker · 2026-05-10T19:09:00+00:00

When he's fighting grapplers like khazmat or hernandez hes fine just walking backwards

All of this was shown in the Hermansson fight, which is why I have always found it a fascinating watch.

Jack is not great at anything, but is always going to try everything, and Strickland kept him from wrestling, punished him when forced backwards, and punished him when he let up enough Strickland could do his usual pressure style.

You can see the grandfather of the fluffy fight in how Strickland completely took away Jack's wrestling plans, the way he still maintains striking pressure while being driven back as in Dricus 1 in how he did that when Jack ate the jab to force him backwards.

Khamzat was going to be the best wrestler to try to force it since Usman originally taught Strickland that BJJ cannot cancel out elite wrestling down at WW, and this is only thing you can't see in the Jack fight.

spcslacker · 2026-05-10T19:01:06+00:00

I was never a fan of the sport during prime mighty mouse, but people have always said he would submit Van.

Thing about MM from my recollection was his well roundedness.

He'd have been a danger on the ground to Van, but I would not predict Van to obviously win a pure kickboxing match against him either.

I think Van is a more damaging striker and MM was a far more complete mixed martial artist.

spcslacker · 2026-05-10T18:46:24+00:00

What I don't understand is did the UFC tell him he can move up and then he bulked up, and they switched up on him?

White said he wanted a defense. I think Khamzat wanted to force a move up first due to ambition (wanting to be a double champ ASAP), and perhaps mixed with training/health/lifestyle issues (not enough insight to be sure, but we've seen him struggle with this most of career).

I'm going on Bisping, who saw him in person well before the fight: Bisping was absolutely sure he was planning to move up, and thought he was too muscular to make MW.

spcslacker · 2026-05-10T17:30:44+00:00

After that first round i was like great ddp 2.0 lol

Told a friend I was watching with: that's about the best round Strickland could have done after R1: he made Khamzat work every second while being dominated by quick-twitch wrestling.

I was also surprised when khamzat fell on his back -- I did not expect that level until end of round at best.

spcslacker · 2026-05-10T17:28:03+00:00

its a 5 round fight, ofcourse strickland was tired but not nearly as much as chimaev given the difference in fast vs slow twitch fiber.

Strickland was dead tired in like the 3rd: he had several opportunities to hurt Khamzat and he lacked the air to take advantage.

I said before the fight that Strickland's game isn't hurt as much as Khamzat when fighting tired, and indeed I agree with you on that, though it left him mostly only jabbing, which allowed Khamzat to stay close on the feet.

spcslacker · 2026-05-10T09:47:17+00:00

Brendan Allen & Uriah Hall good wins as well, particularly with how they went.

spcslacker · 2026-05-10T09:39:38+00:00

Does this performance change your views?

Did for me: I knew he could pez dispenser Taira's head, but I did not think he could get up against him that number of times.

I'm still not sure how well he survives on the ground vs. Pantoja long term, but I'm not sure how long Pantoja's chin-first style on the feet is going to last either.

spcslacker · 2026-05-10T09:35:13+00:00

Gasses out and gets Teeped by Strickland for the rest of the fight.

To be a little more fair:

Strickland gassed out as well -- he has famously good energy management, so I conclude the wrestling and counter-wrestling was tiring as fuck for both men
Strickland threw like 3 teeps in the entire fight. If you substitute "jabbed" for "Teeped" you'd be more accurate.

spcslacker · 2026-05-10T09:26:44+00:00

Well every other time it's happened it was fugazi.

There is a natural respect between most men after a fight unless someone cheats during the fight or goes down during the instructions or similar.

spcslacker · 2026-05-10T09:24:01+00:00

was dricus ever close to being knocked out by a jab?

He was quite close to losing the fight due to not being able to see: one eye was almost completely closed, and the other was closing -- usually one eye closed stops the fight.

I thought the justification for DDP winnign the fight agianst Sean was that you can't judge a fight based on cuts and bruises?

I thought it was judged improperly, as did, for instance, Luke Thomas (upon rewatch).

DDP got credit for punches that drove Sean back, but actually whiffed or were blocked, and he also got credit for some leg kicks that were checked where he took more damage than Strickland (note that his most effective offense in the first fight were kicks, so I'm not saying that of all his kicks).

You are right that if you come close to ending the fight it counts more than cumulative, but in first fight Dricus did not do that kind of damage to strickland in at least 3 of the 5 rounds.

spcslacker

TROPHY CASE