Sean Strickland defeated Paulo Costa in a split decision at UFC 302, putting himself in the conversation for a middleweight title shot.

The two fighters battled it out on the Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Poirier card. The two fighters began focusing heavily on their kicks to the legs and body. Strickland managed to make Costa second-guess his timing. However, Costa did have some success with his own, targeting Sean’s lead leg. The lack of shots thrown to the head set up an intriguing second.

That is when Strickland had his first moment of success. He connected with a solid jab, which dropped Costa to the canvas. While Costa got up without much damage, it was a big scoring shot. Costa worked his way back in the round with some leg kicks. However, Strickland’s kicking game made the bigger impact, as he continually hit Costa to the calves.

Strickland Dominates

Strickland had a spring in his step, heading into third. He landed a low kick, with Costa limping. Sean followed up with a left hand, pouring on the combinations with Costa slowing down. With Costa on the back foot, he failed to get any momentum.

Strickland was hunting his man while Costa was looking for one big shot. The big shot never came. Strickland almost stopped his man, with a knockdown in the final round via a head kick, with the American winning on the cards.

Despite the dominance, one judge scored it for Costa: 46-49, 50-45, 49-46. The win puts Strickland closer to a title shot after losing his UFC Middleweight Belt to Dricus du Plessis. Meanwhile, that was Costa’s fourth loss in his last five bouts, with many questions left to ponder.

“President Trump, you’re the man. It’s a damn travesty what they’re doing to you. It was a boring fight, sorry guys. He’s hard to catch, I’m not known as being athletic. I thought we were gonna have a war … I don’t know what’s happened to Costa.

Full Card

Islam Makhachev def. Dustin Poirier via sub (R5, 2:42)

Sean Strickland def. Paulo Costa via split decision (46-49, 50-45, 49-46)

Kevin Holland def. Michal Oleksiejczuk via sub  (R1, 1:34)

Niko Price def. Alex Morono via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)

Randy Brown def. Elizeu Zaleski via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)

Roman Kopylov def. Cesar Almeida via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)

Jailton Almeida def. Alexandr Romanov via sub (RNC) (R1, 2:27)

Grant Dawson def. Joe Solecki via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27 x2)

Jake Matthews def. Phil Rowe via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28 x2)

Bassil Hafez def. Mickey Gall via unanimous decision (30-27 x2, 29-28)

Ailin Perez def. Joselyne Edwards via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28 x2)

Andre Lima def. Mitch Raposo via split decision (30-27 x2, 28-29)