— Sean Strickland (@SStricklandMMA)
December 23, 2023
Dricus Du
Plessis’ coach, Niel Geyser, claims Sean
Strickland was partly right in throwing his jiu-jitsu black
belt into the garbage bin.
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The effectiveness of jiu-jitsu in MMA has been questioned by
several fighters, including some notable mentions like Derrick
Lewis. Strickland was latest to mock BJJ by uploading a video
of him throwing his black belt into the garbage.
“Over 10 years of my life wanting a piece of fabric,” the UFC
middleweight champion wrote.
Strickland is set to defend his strap against Du Plessis in the
main event at UFC 297 in Toronto on Jan. 20. Geyser agrees with
Strickland’s stance, although only somewhat. Geyser claims pure gi
jiu-jitsu is very different than MMA grappling and a black belt is
likely to suffer a beatdown in an MMA bout. However, Geyser also
believes there is the possibility of Strickland just pulling off
the stunt simply for attention.
“I think to a certain extent he’s got a point,” Geyser said on the
Hack
Check podcast. “Because pure jiu-jitsu, gi grappling is very
different from MMA. And I think you can have a black belt in
jiu-jitsu but you will still get your ass whipped in an MMA fight.
So there’s certain aspects you need to be aware of, it’s very
different. So I can understand in some context why he’d make such a
comment, although I don’t necessarily think it’s a 100%
correct.
“On the other side, and this is where context comes in, you gotta
understand that Strickland is a guy that’s gonna say a lot of
things to get a lot of traction in the media.”