Does Prime Rockhold beat Strickland?

[Huligani]

Nah. Rockhold was never a very good wrestler so there's no way he takes Strickland down. On the feet he'd get outpointed and he'd have a very low chance of scoring a knockdown or knockout, so Strickland would win a decision. Strickland wouldn't rush into Rockhold's check hook, I can't imagine Rockhold's kicks landing (even Adesanya's hardly could), bad matchup for Rockhold.

 

[Poirierfan]

I don't think we know exactly how good Strickland is. He really put it together his last two fights.
Did he really move up to the next level, or was the Izzy fight a little flukish?
I know its not a perfect comparison, but remember Serra and the Vixen over Nunes.

When you beat a guy from pillar to post for 5 rounds that's not what I would call a fluke.

 

[chinarice]

I don't think we know exactly how good Strickland is. He really put it together his last two fights.
Did he really move up to the next level, or was the Izzy fight a little flukish?
I know its not a perfect comparison, but remember Serra and the Vixen over Nunes.

You don't thoroughly outclass a guy for 95% of a 25 minute fight and it be a fluke.

 

[Megatronlee]

I don't think we know exactly how good Strickland is. He really put it together his last two fights.
Did he really move up to the next level, or was the Izzy fight a little flukish?
I know its not a perfect comparison, but remember Serra and the Vixen over Nunes.

I think he just had a good game plan and coach

 

[Uber_Noober]

Luke by ? Kick

 

[pankrat]

Nah. Rockhold was never a very good wrestler so there's no way he takes Strickland down. On the feet he'd get outpointed and he'd have a very low chance of scoring a knockdown or knockout, so Strickland would win a decision. Strickland wouldn't rush into Rockhold's check hook, I can't imagine Rockhold's kicks landing (even Adesanya's hardly could), bad matchup for Rockhold.

Rockhold was pretty good at taking guys down from the clinch
And you talk as if Strickland was very tested vs wrestlers which is not the case

 

[Big Tuppy Hole]

Rockholds downfall made me so sad, I was team rockhold all the way

Out of his Prime within 1 fight

 

[GOATtalks]

If Usmans tda and cardio abuse made him go turtle mode Imagine what a prime Rockhold could do.

Usman is way better fighter than Luke and that fight was ages ago

 

[pankrat]

Usman is way better fighter than Luke and that fight was ages ago

No he is not, noob.
He is better p4p, but weightclasses exist for a reason.
Prime Rockhold would maul Colby, Leon and Masvidal at 185, not even that much competitive.

 

[Fioretti]

I'd favor 31 year old Luke.

 

[LiQuiD42]

Strickland by thicker Cro-Magnon like skull and the power of the USA behind him. One thing is for sure if you grab the nuts of a Tiger you lose your powers.

 

[Miokink026]

Depends. Are we talking prime Strickland who tooled Izzy, or ar we talking the Strickland who got ko'ed by Alex way before Strickland hit his prime?

i like how you used this thread as an opportunity to plug your opinions.

 

[nostradumbass]

The one that got KO'd by Bisping? Sean didn't have much of a problem with Izzy's kicks, and Luke has a good ground game but not very good wrestling to get it there.

 

[Portland8242]

Strickland has to move forward, make it a brawl, and hope his TDD holds up. If they slug it out Sean has a way better chin and won't the first one to go down.

On the outside though Luke is different than Izzy. He blasts HARD kicks.

 

[TriangleMonkey]

Sean has grown

He dealt with Izzys kicks like a BOSS

Luke don’t really attack the legs and either goes body/head, and those are easier to block/read

Lukes boxing is not that great and Sean will force you to box eventually


Luke has a great ground game but terrible TDs, especially for a such a physically imposing style he brings and being a huge MW. Not to mention training w/wrasslers for a majority of his time

 

[pankrat]

The one that got KO'd by Bisping? Sean didn't have much of a problem with Izzy's kicks, and Luke has a good ground game but not very good wrestling to get it there.

Luke has a great ground game but terrible TDs, especially for a such a physically imposing style he brings and being a huge MW. Not to mention training w/wrasslers for a majority of his time

Too many sherbros parroting memes.
Look didnt have terrible TDs at all. Specially for how barely Sean's TDD has been tested.

Rokchold took Weidman down several times, took down Tim Kennedy, and also David Branch landing directly in full-mount.
Majority of his other fighs he just looked to strike, so didnt even attempt TDs.
He is not the greatest TD artist ever at MW but far, veery far from terrible TDs. Very good actually.
Memes run strog among sherbros though

 

[mkt]

Rockhold via ground game

Hard to say. Luke was very good and dangerous on the ground but his TDs weren't that great. Not sure how easily he could take Sean down and keep him there. On the feet, Luke never had good boxing but made up for it when he was young with a good kicking game, footwork, maintaining distance and athleticism. But he was chinny (see Belfort fight). OTOH, while Sean has much better boxing than Luke, he doesn't have one-shot KO power. So it's hard fight to call. I think the Strickland who just beat Izzy and at the top of his game probably wins...other versions of Strickland, like the Cannonier fight, I don't know. Interesting toss up fight IMO.

 

[C0NCH3TO]

Looking back, Rockhold dodged a bullet. Strikeforce Rockhold would have beaten Sean, though.

 

[The XL]

Rockhold can't box and his chin his shit. His ground game is great but he can't wrestle. His kicking game is great, but Sean is great at defending kicks and taking away space, he also cuts the cage off really well. I think Sean wins that fight 8 times out of 10.

 

[mkt]

I don't think we know exactly how good Strickland is. He really put it together his last two fights.
Did he really move up to the next level, or was the Izzy fight a little flukish?
I know its not a perfect comparison, but remember Serra and the Vixen over Nunes.

I don't think a flash KO like Serra is a good comparison at all for outboxing one of the Top 3 strikers ever at MW in a 5-round fight. That said...we mostly learned how Sean's Philly Shell and kicking defense were really optimized for Izzy....not sure how he does against other Top MWs yet. How would a Cannonier rematch look, for example?