In the main event of UFC 312, middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis won’t just be staring down Sean Strickland but also light heavyweight champion Alex ‘Poatan’ Pereira.
Alex Pereira will again be in Sean Strickland’s corner for his incoming middleweight title rematch against ‘Stillknocks’, which is scheduled for the main event of UFC 312 on Saturday, February 8.
Whilst there’s been a fierce debate online as to whether Alex Pereira will be a benefit or hindrance to Sean Strickland’s title aspirations; head coach Eric Nicksick has now defended the move.
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Sean Strickland’s coach on Alex Pereira being in their UFC 312 corner
Speaking with MMAFighting’s Mick Heck, coach Erick Nicksick revealed how the decision to bring in Pereira was a “matter of convenience” after Bellator champion Johnny Eblen pulled out of that expected role.
“He was going to be out there [anyway], and it was just one of those things where I was looking at the corner; Johnny Eblen couldn’t make it out and it was just a matter of convenience.”
Nicksick explained that whilst it’ll be invaluable to have Pereira sat cageside, there’s arguably an even greater benefit for Strickland when it comes to the pre-fight preparation in the locker room.
“These are two guys who really trust one another, Sean went out there to help him get ready for Khalil Rountree and you know, what people don’t understand – and I see people thinking this is a publicity thing – it’s more about the comfortability in your corner.
“And not only that, what Alex brings to the locker room and Sean warms up very, very hard. Sean basically fights in the back to get his eyes, rhythm and timing on point – so who’s better to be back there to help you warm up than Alex freaking Pereira.”
There’s been an argument that Pereira doesn’t speak enough English to be able to legitimately help Strickland and Nicksick during the fight against Dricus Du Plessis, although the veteran coach isn’t worried about the language barrier.
“I see a couple of comments about him not speaking English, [but] he was in the corner for the last Dricus fight, he sat right behind me, and he told me everything in my ear like ‘Hey, make sure he teeps more, make sure he jabs more’.
“We speak MMA, there’s enough for him to be able to say for him to be a resource for us and look, if we’re going into battle then who’s better to have in your corner than Alex Pereira?”
“I’ll take him in any capacity we can get, but there’s a lot of deeper levels and layers to having him in the corner than him just standing there looking scary,” Nicksick argued, adding “He’s going to help us a tonne.”
Daniel Cormier, Dricus Du Plessis react to Alex Pereira’s UFC 312 role
Whilst Nicksick is confident that Pereira will give Strickland that extra motivation needed to re-claim UFC gold, there remain plenty of skeptics out there – including former double champion Daniel Cormier.
“To me, it seems dangerous… It seems risky for Alex to go all the way to Australia knowing everything that goes into a training camp and how hard that travel can be on your body when you’re preparing to continue to defend your world championship.
“So how strong is that bond? How much does Sean Strickland now mean to Alex Pereira for him to take that risk? Because trust me, it’s a risk.”
Dricus Du Plessis himself has also come out to state that Pereira being cageside won’t make much of a difference to how the fight plays out, citing the language barrier.
“He was in the corner in the first fight too, I mean, they don’t even speak the same language. It doesn’t really make much of a difference if he is or not… Strickland could barely understand his own coach who’s also American. How is he going to understand Alex Pereira?”
UFC 312: Du Plessis vs Strickland 2 goes down live from Australia on Saturday, February 8.