Thad Jean Wasn’t Impressed with Dilano Taylor’s Performance at the 2022 PFL Championships

Thad Jean believes his former opponent Dilano Taylor should have done things differently at last year’s Professional Fighters League Championships.

Nearly five years have passed since Jean (4-0) took on Taylor in an amateur contest that ended with “Silverback” stopping his foe with punches in the third frame. Since then, they have taken paths in their respective careers, but they might soon lock horns again in the upcoming 2023 PFL Regular Season. Jean is called to secure a PFL contract as he takes on fellow undefeated prospect Eric Alequin at PFL Challenger Series 2023 Week 1 on Jan. 27. While talking with Sherdog, Jean confessed he wasn’t impressed with Taylor’s performance against Sadibou Sy last year, when “The Postman” fell short of capturing the $1 million prize after dropping a unanimous decision.

“In the fight, he looked like he was timid. I did watch the fight because they're the welterweights. It would be crazy for you not to watch the fight, but watching the fight, it looked like if Delano put more pressure… [Sy’s] whole game is distance kick, distance kick, keep moving, keep the pressure. I feel like if that's someone's game, the best camp is to learn pressure, the best camp is to learn how to cut off the cage a bit better instead of chasing your opponent because, as you chase your opponent, you're leading the tail instead of cutting off the cage. When your opponent goes to the side, you're walking to the side so that your opponent can actually circle around the cage off of you. I feel like [Taylor] was chasing a bit too much and not actually putting the pressure where it should have been. The amount of volume he put in wasn't, it wasn't enough to beat him. I felt like he could have done better, in my opinion.”

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro
(00:22) His holiday season
(01:13) Preparing for Alequin
(02:23) Expecting his opponent to wrestle
(03:00) Aiming to finish Alequin
(03:53) His MMA experience
(05:00) Taking on Taylor as an amateur
(06:00) Discussing Taylor’s performance in the 2022 PFL finals
(07:09) Commenting on Taylor’s victory over Rory MacDonald
(09:27) Hoping to compete as much as possible
(11:03) Railing up the ‘Silverback Nation’
(12:14) Outro