Henry Cejudo did not enjoy watching Sean Strickland vs. Paulo Costa at UFC 302.
Strickland defeated Costa by split decision in this past Saturday’s co-main event at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. – a scorecard which confused the likes of Dana White, who thought it should’ve been unanimous for Strickland. The UFC boss admitted it wasn’t the fight he expected.
Strickland (29-6 MMA, 16-6 UFC) promised a war and put the blame on Costa (14-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) for not engaging enough. Cejudo wanted to see more heat from the two.
“This fight disappointed a lot of people,” Cejudo said on his “Pound 4 Pound” podcast with Kamaru Usman. “I wasn’t expecting that. They were just too friendly, man. It’s almost better to have a little bit of animosity. They were just trying to be homies, trying to be friends.
“There’s too much respect in there inside the cage, because nobody wanted to necessarily lose to each other because they’re both trolls, that the fight just ended up – the last 17 seconds of that fight is what gave the roar, but other than that, the fight was a snoozefest. I don’t know how else to say it.”
Cejudo’s co-host, Usman, gave Strickland and Costa the benefit of the doubt.
“I know Dana was upset with it, but at the same time, how can you be? Those rounds – Round 3, Rounds 1 through 4 – were relatively back-and-forth, kind of confusing,” Usman said. “You know, Sean was kind of throwing out more strikes, but Paulo Costa, when he stood his ground, would land strikes that seemed to be a little more effective. I don’t know. It was just a weird fight.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 302.
