Uriah Hall vs. Sean Strickland

Round 1
The only bout at UFC on ESPN 28 with ranked fighters, and the only matchup containing two competitors with UFC records above .500, comes in the main event. Four-fight win streaks are on the line as flashy striker Hall (17-9, 10-7 UFC) takes on former welterweight Strickland (23-3, 10-3 UFC) in the middleweight division. A touch of gloves – two, in fact – before referee Herb Dean comes between the strikers, who want to get things done in a hurry so they can
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. Hall starts with a long jab, and Strickland gives him one back that makes Hall wipe his nose early. Hall fires a looping right hand and has a jab land hard on his nose, and he eats another as he moves. Strickland continues to pepper him with long left jabs, disrupting the wild offense of Hall but not landing with a big right hand. As he continues to jab, he follows it with rights until one lands on the chin, and Hall shakes his head. Both touch the other with a few blows, and Strickland’s nose is marked up already. Strickland continues to power his jab out, and Hall is forced to aim to the body while he eats these strikes. Hall loops a right hand over a jab, and he catches Strickland on the way in with a left to follow it. As Strickland continues to stick his jab out, Hall chops down his lead leg hard, but Strickland is not concerned as he keeps it up. Hall rolls and wings a right hand that Strickland takes cleanly, but it does not bother him. Strickland’s volume is well in his favor, and he loops a pair of inaccurate hooks but scores a crisp one-two right down the middle. Strickland connects with a few more punches, and Hall is forced to flail to try to break them up. Strickland’s accuracy is bothering Hall, who is trying to wing haymakers while Strickland boxes him up. Hall stuns his foe with a right hand for a moment, but Strickland stings him right back with a clean one-two. Hall ducks a few punches and shakes his head, and Strickland keeps it on him with punches in bunches. Strickland jabs and jabs again, keeping Hall to largely a defensive mode as Hall is forced to block a head kick just in time. Strickland chains a few punches together, and Hall ducks down and rips the body before coming over the top with a right hand. Strickland gathers himself and scores a few more jabs, and Hall finds his range on the end of a right hook. Hall gives his foe a few jabs back, and he slings a pair of right hands that Strickland is able to roll with. The horn sounds.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Strickland
Brian Knapp scores the round: 10-9 Strickland
Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Strickland

Round 2
As Hall sits in his corner, Strickland is off his stool mean-mugging Hall from afar, pacing back and forth. The middleweight contenders touch gloves again, and Hall leads off with a big punch that only partially connects. Strickland gets back in his rhythm with jabs, and Hall walks through a few to crack Strickland with an overhand right. Hall targets the body as Strickland keeps busy with jabs, and he eats a left hand and Strickland puts a few more together to rock Hall. Hall leaps in the air with a knee, and Strickland sees it coming and dodges it to lay into Hall with punches. Strickland mixes things up with a takedown attempt, and although it is easily stuffed, he uses the close proximity to get off a big elbow on the chin. Strickland works Hall on the inside while the two are tied up, with short, stay-busy punches to keep Hall occupied and forcing him to fight off the position. Strickland gets off a solid uppercut that forces a separation, and he plants a jab on the jaw to Hall’s dismay. Hall fires a front kick, and a leg kick come shortly thereafter. Hall backs Strickland off and ignores any oncoming jab to land a few power punches, but eventually Strickland finds his mark with the jabs to slow Hall down again. Hall chips at the leg with a kick and slings a right hand over the top that rings off the temple of his opponent, and Strickland takes a flush jab right after. The two men go jab for jab as Hall appears to be gaining confidence, and he quickly blocks a head kick that comes his way before going low with a kick. Hall walks Strickland down and ducks his punches to land his own, keeping Strickland on his back foot and unable to get his jab off. As Hall walks in to attack, an errant knee with an extended foot connects right to the cup. Hall squats down in pain, and Strickland is quick to apologize a few times. Thirty seconds elapse before Hall can continue, and he is energized to continue as he reaches out with several punches. Strickland stands firm to throw back at him, but Hall buckles his leg with a kick. Strickland’s jab gets timed with a stiff counter, and Hall’s right hand surprises Strickland momentarily. “Primetime” gets kicked in the leg and takes a body kick that he thinks went low, but when there is no pause, Hall spins with a kick. Strickland keeps his composure, bounces off the fence, and jumps up with a knee. The round ends as Hall pounds his foe’s body.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Hall
Brian Knapp scores the round: 10-9 Hall
Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Hall

Round 3
Hall comes out of his round firing, with long punches and low kicks to fluster Strickland. A Hall body shot gets interrupted with a jab, and the two reach at one another with reaching strikes. Strickland tags Hall with a straight left hand, and he puts a few more jabs together as Hall tries to pay him back every time and comes up short. Hall has a leg kick checked, and he scores a solid left hand on the chin right after. Strickland gets his jab back going again, and the power of it seems to have noticeable results as Hall reacts every time it lands. A big one-two from Strickland hurts Hall, and Strickland uses the momentum to bowl Hall over and rain down punches. Strickland pours it on as he tries to finish the fight, busting him up until Hall reaches the fence and climbs his way up. Strickland leans on him and drags him back down to the mat, and “Primetime” quickly gets back up and has his hands leaning over the fence. Dean warns him a few times for this, and as he does, Strickland takes standing back control before planting Hall on the ground. Strickland covers Hall’s mouth with his hand, keeping his flashy foe grounded while in a smothering half guard. Strickland isolates the left arm of his opponent and grabs two-on-one wrist control until Hall senses it, and he wriggles his wrist free but falls into arm-triangle choke danger. Hall breaks up that posture but Strickland sits up and slashes down with a nasty elbow. Hall turns over and gives up back control, where Strickland quickly secures his hooks and fishes for a choke. Strickland gets off a few punches and rides out the round.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-8 Strickland
Brian Knapp scores the round: 10-8 Strickland
Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-8 Strickland

Round 4
Hall doubles up his jab, knowing he is down on the scorecards thanks to his corner team of Fortis MMA. Hall wings huge punches, and Strickland sees them coming and evades all of them. Hall sits down on a big leg kick, and he chains it into a left hand. Another calf kick from Hall makes Strickland pick his leg up, and Strickland is there to jab him when it gets set back down. Strickland tattoos his fist on Hall’s chin to great effect, and Hall appears flustered as he cannot seem to get off offense of his own. “Primetime” aims to the body and head, but no strike is enough to slow the constant piston-like jab of his opponent. Strickland snaps the jab out a few more times, and Hall sends one back at him as Strickland triples, quadruples it up or more. Hall sneaks a left hand around the guard, and Strickland is right there to counter him. Hall decides to play a jab game with his adversary, landing every so often as Strickland’s volume is speaking volumes. Four punches come for Strickland, who dances out of the way from everything but a body shot as Hall tries to retaliate. The end of a second jab snaps Strickland’s head back, but it is one-and-done as Strickland puts his fist in his opponent’s face. Strickland swipes with a left hook to mix things up, as the jab is the preferred measure of attack for this prolonged stretch. A left hand from Strickland wobbles Hall, and “Primetime” falls into the cage and is promptly taken down. Strickland leans heavily on Hall, and as Hall stands back up thanks to a fence grab or two, Strickland knees him in the face twice. The punches from Strickland have opened up a cut on Hall’s left eye, who tries to reply with a leg kick. Hall swings for the fences, but they are closer to landing on Dean than Strickland. The round ends.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Strickland
Brian Knapp scores the round: 10-9 Strickland
Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Strickland

Round 5
Hall is wincing and grimacing between rounds as his left eye is closing, but he is ready to continue and aim for a knockout. Strickland reaches out with a few jabs as Hall crashes forward, prepared to throw bombs. Hall chops at the leg with a single kick, and when Strickland’s guard is up high, he kicks low again. Hall takes two crisp punches on the jaw, and he is no worse for wear as he marches Strickland down and trades with him. The middleweights clinch briefly, and Hall tries to come around the top with a right hand. Strickland wades forward back into the clinch after a brief separation, leaning Hall into the wire as Hall appears visibly frustrated. Strickland allows him to get free, and he lands two punches and gets grabbed. Hall pulls him in and the two clash heads, but Strickland is not concerned as he lands flush on Hall. Strickland slips a right hand to rip with his own, and the final round has turned into a brawl. Hall gets in close and is pushed away, with Strickland shoving him back so he can lay into him. Hall eats several punches as he tries to pay Strickland back, but Strickland’s accuracy and volume are forcing Hall to wilt. Strickland’s forward momentum leads to him pushing Hall into the fence, and he considers a takedown but Hall pushes him away. This happens again, with Hall pushing off to gain some space and take a breath. Strickland gloms back on to him, punching his way into the clinch as he grinds out the last minutes of the fight. Strickland scores a shoulder strike and a knee up the middle, as Hall tries to attack his body up close. Strickland peppers Hall with punches and a stiff knee while not giving Hall anywhere to breathe, and Hall finally gets off with about 45 seconds to go. Hall lets loose with everything he has left, with booming punches that Strickland sees coming. Strickland walks directly into a big right hand that he eats like a steak, so that he can press back into the clinch and ride out the remainder of the bout. Strickland threatens with a takedown, and lands a few punches from up close until the fight wraps up. Other than a close second round, this was largely one-way traffic for Strickland, who should likely earn the biggest win of his career as he looks to bigger and better options. The next event is a pay-per-view in Houston with a sudden interim heavyweight belt on the line. We will be here for it – and we will even have staff in the Toyota Center – and we hope you are too.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Strickland (49-45 Strickland)
Brian Knapp scores the round: 10-9 Strickland (49-45 Strickland)
Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Strickland (49-45 Strickland)

The Official Result
Sean Strickland def. Uriah Hall via Unanimous Decision (50-44, 50-45, 49-46)