The brash, outspoken Sean Strickland has been eating humble pie after his claims that he could stand and trade with any kickboxer resulted in him being KO’d in the first round of his fight with former Glory champion Alex Pereira at UFC 276 on Saturday night.
“Well, that sucked,” Strickland said in an Instagram video. “You never want to be someone’s highlight, but that’s the game we play. I tried to stand and bang with one of the best kickboxers.
“The sh-ttiest part of it is, during the round, I kept thinking, ‘Man, this is going to be an easy fight. I see everything this guy’s throwing, I’m getting the better of the exchanges. I’m going to beat this guy up for three rounds.’ And then halfway through, I got caught. Hat’s off to Alex. He’s a f-cking killer. Thanks to all my coaches – sorry we didn’t get the win.”
Strickland had been on a six-fight winning streak and was ranked No.4 in the division prior to the fight, but has now had his title hopes dashed after sliding down to the No.7 spot following the KO defeat.
“It’s depressing,” strickland admitted. “I’m going to go be sad for a while. And fans, thank you for supporting me. On to the next one. It’s time to climb up the ladder again.”
