Another bout has been added to the upcoming UFC card in Moncton, and I’ll give my thoughts on this new matchup in today’s MMA odds and ends.
Sean Strickland vs. Nordine Taleb, UFC Fight Night 138
A middleweight bout between Sean Strickland and Nordine Taleb is the latest addition to UFC Fight Night 138, which is set to take place Saturday, October 27 at Moncton Events Centre in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. The UFC has officially confirmed this bout, which brings the total number of bout revealed to this card up to eight, with likely four more bouts still yet to be revealed. Strickland (19-3) has a 6-3 overall record in the UFC, which is a bit of a disappointment considering he started off his Octagon career at 5-1, but as he’s stepped up to fight a higher level of competition he has been exposed a bit. In his last fight, he was viciously knocked out by Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos with a brutal spinning wheel kick. At only 27, Strickland still has time to improve, but right now he’s not looking like the prospect many of us once though he was. Taleb (14-5) is also 6-3 in the UFC and like Strickland is coming off of a stoppage loss as he was tapped out by Claudio Silva in his last fight, which was a big upset. Prior to that fight, though, Taleb had won two-straight fights including a brutal KO over Danny Roberts. At 37, Taleb is one of the older welterweights on the UFC roster, but he’s still a very dangerous and well-rounded fighter and shouldn’t be taken lightly despite his age. This is a pretty difficult fight to call given both guys are offensively challenged yet defensively gifted. Despite being the older fighter, I slightly lean towards Taleb just because of the improvements we’ve seen from him, but it’s a close fight for sure.
