Jack Marshman was one of two fighters who missed weight for the UFC Vegas 12 card. Which resulted in his middleweight bout against Sean Strickland moving to a catchweight. And some extra coin for Strickland, who had not fought since a 2018 bout against Nordine Taleb in Moncton, New Brunswick. That, the result of a motorcycle accident that resulted in knee surgery.
Marshman was on the outside early, Strickland walking him down. Long layoffs almost universally bring about questions over cage rust, but Strickland appeared to have his timing down early, landing several times. Marshman threw out the odd kick and combo, but Strickland was backing him up, at times trapping his opponent against the fence. Which led to a flurry of strikes landing on Marshman. The Welsh fighter survived, and connected with a strong right hand towards the end of the round.
That patient, methodical Strickland returned at the start of round two. No worse the wear, apparently, from the right hand that caught him late in the first. Strickland, in fact, connected with a combo early, his right hand punctuating things. That might have served to wake Marshman up, as he began walking forward, leading the dance for a change. Marshman began digging into the body with his strikes. Despite the slight uptick in offense from Marshman, however, he was still more than likely losing the round.
"Thirty seconds… I'll give you a chance to win!"
🇺🇸 Strickland is not holding back on his talk in the Octagon. #UFCVegas12 pic.twitter.com/S8ARTBzZMj
— UFC (@ufc) October 31, 2020
Marshman clearly knew that. He tried to take the fight to Strickland early in the third. Strickland, for his part, seemed content to stand and trade, even challenging Marshman to do just that. “Come on, Jack, right into the center! Don’t make me chase you, Jack!” With no spectators, Strickland’s comments rang out clear as day. Pretty wild, given Strickland was up and easily could have coasted. Instead, he took a big swing, landing a right hand. “Bro, you just won’t fall. Why won’t you fall?!?” Strickland called out after that punch landed. He tried to land the head kick, continuing the taunting. Marshman then turned it up, which led Strickland to say “I’ll give you the chance to win, let’s go hard!” They went, they traded, but Strickland walked away with the win. After chirping enough to fill up his own column.
Official Result: Sean Strickland def. Jack Marshman by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
