Coach Conversation | Israel Adesanya vs Sean Strickland

Kyte: Everyone would love a 10-second knockout or a quick submission, but that’s not often how these things go, especially not at the championship level. Instead, it’s usually the competitor that has crafted the better game plan and did the better job of executing things inside the Octagon that comes away with their hand raised and the gold around their waist.

Given that it’s a pretty classic matchup, path to victory feels pretty straightforward: one wants to get it to the ground, the other wants to keep it standing, and whoever wins, wins.

Fight By Fight Preview | UFC 293: Adesanya vs Strickland

Chartier: For Izzy, I think it’s to manage distance and not play Rock’em Sock’em Robots — use his footwork, use angles, keep him out at kickboxing range and stay off the fence. Keep moving, pick him apart, keep moving, land some power shots, but don’t get into a slugfest with this kid.

And then for Strickland, he needs to pressure, put Izzy on the fence, and I feel like he should mix in takedowns.

Everybody talks about how great of a grappler he is — I feel like if he mixes in takedowns, it changes the landscape of this fight.

Kyte: We saw (his grappling) in his early days — like early, early days — but he’s gotten so far away from it. He doesn’t use it at all.

Chartier: To become a UFC champion and have that on your resume for the rest of your life — the opportunities that will create and the doors that will open, if you have to throw a couple takedowns in there against one of the best strikers in the UFC, don’t have too much pride to do it, you know?

I have to think that’s how (Strickland’s coach, Eric) Nicksick feels, too.

Kyte: I’m 100-percent with you. I’ve talked to Sean a bunch and every step along the way, I’ll say to him, ‘You’ve gotta acknowledge that you’re really good at this — you’re one of the best middleweights in the world — and you may have an opportunity to be a world champion,’ and his response is always that he doesn’t care.

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I’ve always thought that was a facade — that’s the shield that gets put up because it’s easier to tell people “I don’t care” and be anti-social and push people away, rather than allowing yourself to be vulnerable and admit you want good things for yourself, so I wonder what we see in this one.

Chartier: I think that buck stops here. That’s fine if that’s what gets you to deal with it mentally, if that’s what it is, but this is that opportunity where all that other stuff — whether its been gamesmanship or whatever — it’s all been to get to here.

Whether it’s “I’m gonna put on this facade that I don’t care to make myself less stressed that I want this,” but now you’re here. If you’re faced with the choice between I can keep losing these rounds or I can get a takedown and win these rounds, hopefully the ego doesn’t step in.

X Factor

Kyte: If there were one thing that was going to significantly impact how this fight plays out — that swings it in one direction or the other — what would it be?

Chartier: I think it’s that; I think it’s the wrestling. Does Strickland decide to grapple a little bit?

Even if he doesn’t want to win a boring fight — get him down and hold him down, kind of like Jan (Blachowicz) did — but even if he wants to make the threat of a takedown there to even up the striking.

Kyte: Show it in order to keep him honest.

Chartier: Yeah — do we see Strickland engage in grappling early to keep Izzy honest? That’s really the X factor — I guess the X factor would be “Can Izzy defend Strickland’s grappling?’ And the curiosity would be “Does Strickland look to grapple?”

One Coaching Curiosity

Kyte: Coaches see the sport differently and look at the sport differently than anyone else, picking up on different things and paying attention to movements, habits, or intangible pieces that others might not notice, but that could have a significant impact on the action inside the Octagon.

Every matchup offers its own unique collection of elements that might pique a coach’s interest and get them paying a little closer attention to once the fight gets underway.

So are there other curiosities for you? There are a couple I have, but I want to hear from you first.

Chartier: I’m interested to see how Izzy deals with that type of stubborn pressure — like “I’m hitting this kid and he keeps coming;” does Izzy get frustrated? Does he throw too big and leave holes and get pulled into that game where next thing you know, you’re not fighting your fight at all.

Kyte: I wonder about it from the other side too - where does Strickland’s pressure bring out the best version of Izzy?

Not that he gets over-extended or tries too much, but he kind of just hung out with (Jared) Cannonier — he knew he had him beat, didn’t have to do too much.

“This guy doesn’t want to engage? Fine, I’ll just land my shots, and I’ll win 50-45 just by hanging out on the outside, and I’m fine with that.”

Sean isn’t a guy that is going to let you do that, so does that create moments for Izzy where he gets to be the guy that blasted Robert Whittaker and blasted (Alex) Pereira last time out.

Chartier: Yeah, that’ll be interesting.

Kyte: It’s an interesting fight.

Chartier: As it gets closer, I’m more intrigued by it. When they first said it, I was like, “Okay, cool,” but as it gets closer and I’m thinking about it more, I get thinking, “Maybe Strickland can do it.”