UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland rates the striking of reigning PFL welterweight champ Sadibou Sy very highly.
One of Strickland’s main training partners at Xtreme Couture, Sy (16-6-2 MMA, 10-4-2 PFL) rematches Magomed Magomedkerimov in their welterweight final Friday at the 2023 PFL Championship event.
As Strickland (28-5 MMA, 15-5 UFC) preps for his own title fight against Dricus Du Plessis in the UFC 297 main event on Jan. 20, he raved about Sy’s striking and the difficulties it presents him in sparring.
“He (Sy) would be the welterweight champion (in the UFC),” Strickland said on his YouTube channel. “Then I’d probably have to fight him for the middleweight belt. Sadi is the best striker I’ve ever sparred. Proof is in the pudding, man. We’ve all seen your highlights. Generally when I spar Sadi, I’m like, ‘F*ck, this sucks. Why can’t I hit you, Sadi?! This is bullsh*t.’
“I’ll tell you what makes Sadi so good: The f*cking man thinks, dude. When he’s sparring, he just like – he’s calculated, he understands, you know? To be a really great standup artist, a lot of it comes from the mind. If someone gives you an IQ test, what do they test? They test you on reading patterns, predictability. When you’re sparring, all you’re doing is reading patterns and finding out predictabilities. High-level striking is a big IQ test.”
The 2023 PFL Championship event takes place Friday at The Anthem in Washington, D.C. The main card airs on pay-per-view (ESPN+) following prelims on ESPN+.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for 2023 PFL Championship.
UFC champ Sean Strickland on PFL’s Sadibou Sy: ‘Best striker I’ve ever sparred’