LAS VEGAS – Sean Strickland admits he doesn’t know a whole lot about Jared Cannonier other than he’s got some frightening knockout power.
Strickland (25-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) will meet Cannonier (15-6 MMA, 8-6 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 216 middleweight headliner, which takes place at the UFC Apex and streams on ESPN+.
It’s an important matchup in the division, and the one thing Strickland does know going into it is that he needs to be weary.
“‘The Killa Gorilla,’ let’s f*cking go – sounds like a scary motherf*cker,” Strickland told MMA Junkie and other reporters at UFC Fight Night 216 media day on Wednesday. “Sounds like I don’t want to share a f*cking cell with that guy.”
Strickland, who continued sparring for this weekend’s fight at recently as Tuesday, said he intends to go into the cage with an open-minded approach. He considers himself quite well-rounded, and hinted that he’ll fight with whatever feels most natural in the moment.
“Maybe I’ll take him down. Maybe I’ll kickbox. Maybe I’ll box. I don’t even f*cking know these things,” Strickland said. “You’re asking questions I haven’t even thought about yet.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 216.
Sean Strickland has no game plan for ‘scary motherf*cker’ Jared Cannonier at UFC Fight Night 216