Sean Strickland is entering the biggest fight of his MMA career later tonight (Sat., July 31, 2021) at UFC Vegas 33 live on ESPN/ESPN+ from inside UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nev., as he takes on middleweight veteran Uriah Hall in the main event.
Not only is this Strickland’s first UFC main event bid but it’s an opportunity for him to push his current win streak to five. The 30-year-old veteran has looked even better since returning to 185 pounds late last year and he believes a win over “Prime Time” this weekend will show he belongs in the middleweight top 10.
“I think I’m one of the best fighters in the world and beating Uriah will show that,” Strickland told UFC.com.
Strickland, who missed two years of action from 2018-2020 following a scary motorcycle accident, is trying to make up for lost time. Earning his way to his first UFC main event is a major step in the right direction, but it’s not something that’s going to change how Strickland performs. Come Saturday night, fight fans can expect the same confident striker that steps inside of the cage each and every time.
“I don’t really care. I don’t care about the logos,” Strickland said about his main event bid. “I just like to fight. I don’t elevate myself. It doesn’t matter if I’m the main event. It doesn’t matter if I’m fighting on a lower card. I’m just here to fight.”
Luckily, Strickland has been able to stay active since returning to the promotion in Oct. 2020. He has gone 3-0 during that span with key wins over Brendan Allen and Krzysztof Jotko. The move to middleweight has certainly helped Strickland’s ability to evolve as a complete fighter, but it’s also been his consistency inside of the cage. This will be Strickland’s fourth trip to the Octagon in the past nine months and it’s starting to pay dividends.
“Staying active, that’s how I make money,” Strickland said. “The best thing about being active is that I’m making f—king money. If I win, I get to fight more and make more money. Let’s f—king knock Uriah out and keep making f—king money.”
While Strickland admits that Hall is one of the most dangerous strikers in the division and a guy who can knock him out if he makes a mistake the former welterweight isn’t making any special adjustments for “Prime Time.” In fact, Strickland doesn’t seem to have a game plan at all for UFC Vegas 33.
“If anybody knows me, they know that I try not to think, I don’t have a gameplan,” Strickland said. “I just go in there and I’m me and if it works out, it works out and if it doesn’t, I’m going to wake up Sunday morning and say ‘f—k I should’ve thought about it more.’”
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 33 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the ESPN/ESPN+ “Prelims” bouts at 6:00 p.m. ET, followed by the ESPN/ESPN+ main card start time at 9 p.m. ET.