Sean Strickland has experienced exactly what it’s like to go head-to-head with Alex Pereira, which has given him a fascinating insight into why the Brazilian is so hard to beat.
The pair clashed at UFC 276 on July 2, 2022, inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
Sean Strickland explains what’s so tricky about fighting Alex Pereira
In his brilliant career, Sean Strickland has climbed all the way to the peak of the mountain, defeating Israel Adesanya to win the UFC middleweight title.
However, the polarizing character was no match for Alex Pereira when he traded leather with the power puncher in the fight capital of the world.
Despite catching ‘Poatan’ a couple of times early, he ultimately fell foul to the same fate as many men before and indeed after him.
Inside the first round, Pereira detonated his left hook and rendered Strickland, unconscious.
WOW: Conor McGregor vs Paddy Pimblett… Ex-UFC heavyweight pitches the battle of the trash talkers
While the result was undoubtedly challenging for the American to take, rather than fixating on the past, in a bid to hone his craft, he’s now training with the man who defeated him.
In a video uploaded to Twitter by Happy Punch, Strickland is inside the gym with the light heavyweight champion, discussing the major obstacle that comes with fighting him.
He said: “The problem with Alex is he touches you and you f***ing die. Doesn’t matter how much I touch Alex, I’m not going to hurt the motherf***ing guy.
“I remember when me and him fought. I was like, ‘Boom, I’m hitting him’, a little bit of blood was coming down, I see a little blood on his face. I’m like, ‘F**k it, Alex ain’t that scary. He’s not like that’.
“I started hitting him and I was like, ‘I’m going to f**k Alex up’. All of a sudden, I woke up, ‘What the f**k happened’?”
The video then cut to a clip of the Californian getting brutally knocked out before switching back to inside the gym, where the 33-year-old elaborated on just how heavy-handed Pereira truly is.
He added: “I’m not scared of Alex. The problem is, I’ll go to sleep. It’s a weird thing when you fight Alex.
“If you gave me one free shot and you said, ‘Give me everything you can’ — I’m not knocking him out. But I just know, no matter what the f**k I do, he’s going to eat it and if he touches me with just one good one — good night. Motherf***er.”
Alex Pereira and Sean Strickland join forces ahead of UFC 307
While Strickland is undeniably learning a thing or two from his former rival, Pereira is gaining just as much from their training sessions.
The reigning 205-pound champion is preparing to defend his belt against Khalil Rountree at UFC 307 on October 5 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
In order to get himself in optimum condition, Pereira is sparring with Strickland, who’s motivated to help him get the win for a multitude of reasons.
One of the most prominent is that he shares a frosty relationship with Rountree, recently explaining why he doesn’t see eye-to-eye with the title contender.
Sheesh: Belal Muhammad claims Khabib Nurmagomedov ordered coffee while grappling with him