Kyté: And that’s the main reason why I’m fascinated by this fight.
Marshal: They both move forward.
Sean will literally walk straight. Obviously, he’s going to do lots of other things.
Kyté: Both are built around the principle “I show up, I dictate the terms of engagement, I pick up the pace” and the other usually withers and succumbs.
Countdown Strickland vs. Du Plessis
Marshal: Now here’s the thing: I think Dricus needs to mix up the takedowns and he needs to get them, because if he doesn’t get them he’s going to get tired of shooting them. He doesn’t have to keep him on the ground for the entire round, but he does have to keep him on the ground for one minute and 30 seconds and force Sean to get up.
That’s the difference between their progress: Sean is going to come forward and strike. You saw it with Izzy – he had no plans to take Izzy down, which for him was the path to victory for everyone. If I had told you before the fight that Sean Strickland had won, you would have said he was knocked out, right?
Kyté: At least he unhooked a lot of stuff and kept it filthy along the fence.
Marshal: Right – force grapple. You would never say he wouldn’t wrestle at all and would just throw punches. You would never have said that.
So you know Sean comes forward and strikes. He has all the other skills, but it’s his game. Dricus mixes things up, and we’re going to see what that confusion looks like and who tires the other person out?
Kyté: The funny thing is, Sean can wrestle, Sean can wrestle; he simply refuses to use it.
X factor
Kyté: If there was one thing that was going to have a significant impact on the outcome of this fight – that would swing it one way or the other – what would it be?