Pros react after Sean Strickland defeats Paulo Costa at UFC 302: “WTF did I just hear?”

Tonight’s UFC 302 event was co-headlined by a key middleweight bout between Sean Strickland and Paulo Costa.

Strickland (29-6 MMA) entered the contest looking to rebound, this after suffering a split decision loss to Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 297 to surrender the promotion‘s middleweight title in his previous effort. Prior to that setback, ‘Tarzan’ was on a three-fight winning streak which included a lopsided decision win over Israel Adesanya.

Meanwhile, Paulo Costa (14-4 MMA) was returning to action for the first time since UFC 298, where he dropped a unanimous decision to former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker. Prior to that, the Brazilian knockout artist was coming off a win over Luke Rockhold at UFC 278.

Tonight’s UFC 302 co-main event proved to be a hard fought five-round affair. Sean Strickland was the one applying the pressure throughout the fight, landing his front kick and jab seemingly at will. While Paulo Costa was able to land some good low kicks and jabs to the body, he never had ‘Tarzan’ in serious danger. On the other hand, Strickland was able to score multiple knockdowns, including a big head kick late in round five.

Official UFC 302 Results: Sean Strickland def. Paulo Costa by split decision (46-49, 50-45, 49-46)

Check out how the pros reacted to ‘Strickland vs. Costa’ below:

Such a strange fight here. Gotta favor Strickland over 25 min but the first 15 Costa is a real threat.

— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) June 2, 2024

Big fight feels 👊🏼👊🏼 #UFC302

— bjpenndotcom (@bjpenndotcom) June 2, 2024

Strickland has been able to overwhelm most all opponents with forward pressure working off the jab. Will that be possible with the power and durability factor that Costa brings?!

— Dominick Cruz (@DominickCruz) June 2, 2024

Costa needs to stand his ground

— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) June 2, 2024

Big round for @SStricklandMMA #ufc302

— GILBERT BURNS DURINHO (@GilbertDurinho) June 2, 2024

Very effective pressure from @SStricklandMMA Borrachinha starting to fade! #ufc302

— GILBERT BURNS DURINHO (@GilbertDurinho) June 2, 2024

3-0 Strickland .. Strickland don’t even looked tired in this 4th round #ufc302

— Tracy Cortez’s ERA (@TracyCortezmma) June 2, 2024

You know how when there’s no activity on the ground the ref stands them up… they should do the opposite for this fight let’s make them start on the ground

— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) June 2, 2024

300 push kicks lol

— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) June 2, 2024

@SStricklandMMA with the Bart Simpson’s kick 😂 #ufc302

— Max Griffin (@MaxPainGriffin) June 2, 2024

They’re gonna act like Strickland is crazy because that last 3 seconds

— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) June 2, 2024

Post-fight reactions to Sean Strickland defeating Paulo Costa at UFC 302:

Amazing job 👏🏽👏🏽
You’ll get him next time @BorrachinhaMMA pic.twitter.com/Ewu9zqkYoT

— Tracy Cortez’s ERA (@TracyCortezmma) June 2, 2024

WTF did I just hear!!! #ufc302

— Alan Jouban (@AlanJouban) June 2, 2024

Who would you like to see Sean Stickland fight next following his split victory over Paulo Costa this evening in New Jersey?