BY COLIN BISH, CONTRIBUTING WRITER
photo courtesy of @strickland_mma_ on Instagram
Sean Strickland stunned UFC fans when he dominated Israel Adesanya to become the undisputed UFC Middleweight champion, and I consider it the greatest upset in the company’s history.
All three judges scored the fight four rounds out of five for Strickland, which is not just the best victory in Strickland’s career, but also Adesanya’s worst loss in the UFC. Adesanya’s first loss came to former Light Heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz, but one could argue Adesanya was ill-prepared for moving up in weight classes, exemplified by the five-pound difference between Adesanya and Blachowicz.
Adesanya’s next loss came to archrival Alex Pereira, which came by way of a fifth-round knockout when Adesanya was up 3-1 on all three judges’ scorecards. However, Adesanya avenged this loss, brutally knocking out Pereira to reclaim the Middleweight belt. Adesanya’s first title defense in his second reign came against Strickland, who handily won the fight.
When putting this fight up against the other great upsets in UFC history, the magnitude of Strickland’s performance holds more meaning over other incredible upsets. When people think of the best upsets in UFC history, they believe it to be Matt Serra defeating Georges St.-Pierre, which is the third-highest betting upset in UFC history according to Forbes, or Chris Weidman stunning Anderson Silva, who won 17-consecutive fights before this upset.
Serra finished St.-Pierre in the first round while Weidman finished Silva in the second, which is a common theme in UFC upsets. Many upsets ending a flash finish in the first or second round, but Strickland dominated Adesanya from the opening round to the closing seconds. I would be singing a different tune had Strickland got a quick knockout, but Strickland was dominant and efficient in his victory over Adesanya.
However, one could also compare this to upsets that ended in decisions, which is a fair point. A couple big upsets that ended in a decision are Henry Cejudo vs. Demetrious Johnson and Frankie Edgar vs. BJ Penn.
Many were shocked by Cejudo’s split-decision victory over Johnson, who reigned supreme over the Flyweight division for over seven years. But what sets Strickland’s above Cejudo’s upset was his dominance.
Cejudo won a razor-thin fight that could have gone in favor of Johnson, which is much different than Strickland undoubtedly defeating Adesanya. While many doubted if Cejudo pulled off the upset, there was no doubt whatsoever regarding Strickland’s fight.
Frankie Edgar defeated Lightweight champion BJ Penn in a highly controversial decision at UFC 112. Many fans, analysts, and commentators believed Penn had won the fight, but it was ruled a unanimous decision for Edgar.
This upset pales in comparison to Strickland’s, with Edgar having arguably robbed Penn of a successful title defense. No one tried to argue against Strickland winning the title, but many became upset with the decision that robbed fan-favorite Penn of his title.
That isn’t anything against Edgar, but the only reason this fight is considered an upset is because the wrong person won.
bishcj22@bonaventure.edu
