While it wasn’t a fight that seemed to live up to its hype, Sean Strickland and his forward-footed pressure outworked Paulo Costa over the course of 25 minutes at UFC 302.
But, what seemed like an assured victory wasn’t, thanks to one judge.
Dave Tirelli scored the fight 49-46 for Costa in spite of the bout clearly looking one-sided in Strickland’s favor.
After already bringing out a controversial scorecard in the opening preliminary card bout between Mitch Raposo and André Lima, this scoring from Tirelli has gotten him scorched by everyone, ranging from UFC CEO Dana White and commentator Joe Rogan to fight fans and media members across social media.
Strickland himself let his displeasure be known while talking with Megan Olivi in a backstage interview for ESPN MMA following his victory.
“The judges are crazy, guys,” Strickland said. “I don’t think they watch fighting, I don’t think they know fighting. You never know; if you leave it in the hands of the judges, only the gods know.”
Strickland Willing To Sit Out & Wait For Shot At UFC Middleweight Title
In Strickland’s eyes, the reason that the fight went to the final horn as it did was because Costa did not fight how the former champion expected. As a result, according to Strickland, he wasn’t able to chase the Brazilian down and get the finish.
“I didn’t think he was going to back up,” Strickland said. “Costa’s not known to fight like that. I don’t know, man… I wasn’t expecting to fight like that. It’s a damn shame. I wanted to finish him, but unless I was running at a full sprint, I just couldn’t catch him.”
This fight was Strickland’s first since losing the middleweight championship in a close decision to Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 297 this past January.
Though Strickland felt he did enough to get the win, as did White back then, he was willing to be a “company man” and take this fight. Now, however, Strickland says he’s willing to wait on the sidelines until he gets a rematch.
“I paid my dues; I did what I had to do,” Strickland said. “Every time you lose, and I think the world knows I beat Dricus, every time you lose, you have to pay your penance. I did my penance with Costa, and no damage…give it to me. I’ll wait.”
It’s expected that Du Plessis will defend the middleweight title against Israel Adesanya — the man Strickland upset for the belt — at UFC 305 this August in Perth, Australia.
