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'Sean Strickland Is Lowkey The Belal Muhammad Of The Middleweight Division' - MMA Fans Have Mixed Reactions After 'Tarzan' Survives Bad Judging To Beat Paulo Costa At UFC 302 | MMA News

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'Sean Strickland Is Lowkey The Belal Muhammad Of The Middleweight Division' - MMA Fans Have Mixed Reactions After 'Tarzan' Survives Bad Judging To Beat Paulo Costa At UFC 302

June 1, 2024Jun 1, 2024

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Kyle Dimond

In the co-main event of UFC 302, Sean Strickland returned to the win column with a split-decision victory over Paulo Costa.

It was another massively varying scorecard for a Strickland fight with two of the three judges scoring the fight 49-46 for either fighter and another scoring all five for the former champion to get the win.

The story of the fight was the pressure of Strickland as he backed Costa up for the entire duration, using his jabs and body kicks to wear his opponent down.

"Borrachinha" primarily targeted the legs and body but was unable to land enough to edge out the rounds, which were mostly competitive.

Strickland called for a shot at the title in his post-fight interview, alongside professing his support for Donald Trump who was sat cage side.

Fans React With Mixed Feelings To Sean Strickland's Co-Main Event Win

Despite the split judging, Strickland got the win this time around unlike his bout with Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 297 in January.

He capped off the fifth round and sealed the deal with a head kick that dropped Costa, following it up with several jumping kicks as he chased his opponent around the cage.

Judge Dave Tirelli scored the fight in favor of Costa having already caused controversy in the first fight of the night after he scored the opening bout for Mitch Raposo.

The mixed reactions to the fight and varying scorecards poured in from the MMA world on social media.

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