Unbeatable: The Best Striker I’ve Ever Faced in Sparring

UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland highly rates the striking of reigning PFL welterweight champ Sadibou Sy.

At Xtreme Couture, Strickland’s main training partner, Sy (16-6-2 MMA, 10-4-2 PFL) is set to rematch Magomed Magomedkerimov in their welterweight final at the 2023 PFL Championship event on Friday.

As Strickland (28-5 MMA, 15-5 UFC) prepares for his title fight against Dricus Du Plessis in the UFC 297 main event on Jan. 20, he enthusiastically expresses admiration for Sy’s striking and the challenges it imposes on him in sparring.

“He (Sy) would be the welterweight champion (in the UFC). Then I’d probably have to fight him for the middleweight belt. Sadi is the best striker I’ve ever sparred. Proof is in the pudding, man. We’ve all seen your highlights. Generally when I spar Sadi, I’m like, ‘F*ck, this sucks. Why can’t I hit you, Sadi?! This is bullsh*t.’

“I’ll tell you what makes Sadi so good: The f*cking man thinks, dude. When he’s sparring, he just like – he’s calculated, he understands, you know? To be a really great standup artist, a lot of it comes from the mind. If someone gives you an IQ test, what do they test? They test you on reading patterns, predictability. When you’re sparring, all you’re doing is reading patterns and finding out predictabilities. High-level striking is a big IQ test.”

The 2023 PFL Championship event takes place Friday at The Anthem in Washington, D.C. The main card airs on pay-per-view (ESPN+) following prelims on ESPN+.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for 2023 PFL Championship.

Story originally appeared on MMA Junkie