LAS VEGAS – Sean Strickland is glad he got the job done, but he’s not particularly happy with how he got it done.
The UFC middleweight picked up a unanimous decision win, outpointing Krzysztof Jotko on the main card of Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 23 event in Las Vegas. Strickland (23-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC) defeated Jotko (22-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC) 30–27, 30–27 and 29–28 on the judges’ scorecards.
Although it was a clear win for Strickland, the 30-year-old is not happy with with his performance.
“It was all right. I didn’t finish him,” Strickland said at the UFC on ESPN 23 post-fight news conference. “It was a fight, and I kind of wish I would’ve finished him. I kind of fought like a coward. But you get a guy that backs up like that and has good counters, and you second guess yourself on overcommitting. I overcommitted once and he hit me, so I was kind of being a coward. But it’s all right. It happens. Everyone is allowed to be a b*tch once in their lives.”
But it wasn’t just his performance and his inability to stop Jotko. Strickland got caught with a clean upwards elbow to the the chin in round won and that didn’t sit well with him either.
“What an embarrassing shot to get hit with,” Strickland said. “That’s the one when he fights from now, on they’re going to play that on his highlight. I’m going to be his highlight fight. But yeah, he’s a standup guy. I expected him to hit me with something. I was just mad. I’m not mad at him for doing it – if anything congratulations. I’m more mad at me for sucking.”
Strickland is now on a four-fight wining streak and remains unbeaten since moving back up to middleweight in late 2020. Strickland has no opponent or date in mind for a potential return to the octagon, but he does hope is sooner rather than later.
“I always like a month or so for a break. But yeah, let’s get back in there and make some fights, make some money,” Strickland said. “That’s why we’re here, right? Make money.”
Sean Strickland not satisfied with decision win at UFC on ESPN 23: ‘I kind of fought like a coward’
