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Teddy Atlas showed his love for Sean Strickland via Twitter while the middleweight bout between Sean Strickland and Krzysztof Jotko was underway at UFC Vegas 25. Mike Tyson's former boxing coach Teddy Atlas appreciated Strickland for his accurate striking and for not wasting energy unnecessarily. Teddy Atlas wrote on Twitter:
"UFC Strickland- Jotko, Strickland is perfect example of a striker/fighter who never wastes anything. Only throws when in position and very accurate. #UFCVegas25"
With both fighters having similar styles, Sean Strickland eventually emerged the winner via unanimous decision, with all three scorecards reading 29-28. 'Tarzan' looked his absolute best throughout the bout and even refused to take the stool in between rounds.
The win puts Sean Strickland on a four-fight win streak, two of them coming via knockouts. Currently ranked number fifteen, Strickland can be expected to edge closer to the top ten of the talent-packed middleweight division.
Krzysztof Jotko had his three-fight win streak snapped after picking up consecutive decision victories over Eryk Anders, Marc-Andre Barriault, and Alen Amedovski.
Sean Strickland trained with Marvin Vettori for the fight:
Going into his bout against Jotko, Sean Strickland was helped by the soon-to-be middleweight title challenger, Marvin Vettori. The two first met when Strickland visited Kings MMA in Southern California but didn't exactly hit it off the right way. Talking about their first impressions, Sean Strickland said:
“He was just an arrogant f***ing Italian guy,” Strickland said. “He’s kind of an arrogant f***er, you know? You meet Marvin, and it took me a while to like him. I’m sure it took him a while to like me. Most people don’t like me, so that’s good.”
While the two might not exactly be friends, they sure have earned each other's respect as training partners, which has benefitted both fighters along the way. Elaborating further on their relationship, Sean Strickland said:
“We’re so competitive to where when we’re sparring, it’s not like, ‘Oh, we’re friends. We’re going to get better. It’s like, ‘We’re going to see who is better,’ but that’s why I spar Marvin because he does it with passion. He’s an amazing fighter, and he’s one of the hardest working guys in the sport, and he deserves the title, and after this fight I told him I’m going to go back to Cali and help him as much as I can.”
