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What's the story?
Sean Strickland secured a second-round TKO stoppage victory over Canada's fan-favourite Nordine Taleb in the featured bout of the preliminary card at UFC Fight Night 138.
Sean bounced back with a morale-boosting victory, making a statement during a close-fought knockout victory over Montreal's Taleb, who came into this fight with significant crowd support from his home supporters.
In case you didn't know...
Local hero and UFC welterweight Taleb (14-5) faced California's Sean "Tarzan" Stickland (19-3) in the featured bout of the preliminary card of UFC Fight Night 138.
During a stacked fight card with a light-heavyweight headliner between Volkan Oezdemir and surging contender Anthony Smith, Taleb and Stickland both came into this fight seeking redemption after having lost their previous fights via knockouts.
The heart of the matter
Taleb came into this fight as the slight favourite on the odds and naturally, a huge fan favourite too in his home country here. The Canadian representative looked to put on a dominant performance for the loyal crowd, who were vocal in support of their compatriot.
The fight was back-and-forth from the offset with both fighters landing big shots while equally taking damage too. Taleb seemingly got the better of Strickland in the opening round, landing bigger shots and making Strickland miss and visibly tiring.
He began the second-round on the front foot, looking to impose pressure and landed a bunch of nasty leg kicks. However, Strickland came out on top eventually and landed a massive right hand to drop Taleb - who would get back to his feet before both exchanged blows.
Eventually Strickland came out on top once more, landing a flurry of elbows to finally drop Taleb and finish him via ground-and-pound. You can read the play by play and result updates to the preliminary card here.
What's next?
With an impressive display during a close fight, Strickland's stock is bound to increase.
He came back from adversity to deliver a stunning knockout - not least against a local hero - and his 20-3 record will see him target a breakthrough into the division's top 15 fighters, where he'll potentially begin fighting elite opposition soon.
