‘Poatan’ has already touched down in Sydney for the second PPV fight week of 2025.
Alex Pereira is set to corner Sean Strickland for his main event bout this Saturday night at the Qudos Bank Arena in Australia.
The light heavyweight champion made the walk with Strickland for his first fight with Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 297 last year with the two men running it back for the middleweight belt on February 8.
Whilst Pereira and the former 185-pound champion have had a great working relationship for some time, despite the fact that the Brazilian doesn’t speak English, the news did come as a surprise to some.
Away from the conversation regarding what the 205-pound titleholder actually adds to the corner, there’s also the factor of whether he’s hurting his own career by helping out a friend.
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Michael Bisping and Daniel Cormier express concerns over Alex Pereira’s Sydney trip for UFC 312
Alex Pereira has proven throughout his UFC run that he doesn’t need to have an optimal training camp in order to produce impressive performances inside the Octagon.
That being said, many believe that his next title challenger, Magomed Ankalaev, will be his biggest test to date when they meet at UFC 313 in Las Vegas.
When Pereira makes the walk in Sydney alongside Sean Strickland, it will be exactly one month until he competes at the T-Mobile Arena in his fourth title defense.
Michael Bisping recently commented on whether this weekend could negatively impact ‘Poatan’ ahead of such an important fight.
The former middleweight champion referenced that Daniel Cormier had also expressed concerns that Pereira’s travel plans might significantly disrupt his preparations.
“DC thinks it’s a bad idea. I’ve got a theory on why he’s saying that,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel.
“The reality is, for Alex Pereira, flying to the other side of the world a few weeks before his title fight against Magomed Ankalaev, that a lot of people think is the toughest matchup for him at 205, and I’ll probably agree with that, as well.
They think it’s a bad idea. Daniel Cormier said once you go to Australia, you got to deal with jet lag, different food.
“The training regimen won’t be the same, and all the rest of it. They are all valid points, and by the way, the whole time Pereira is doing that, Magomed Ankalaev is working his ass off. Because if Pereira beats him, he becomes a legend himself, and every single time he’s standing there with Sean Strickland and doing all that type of stuff, Pereira is not advancing his game, he’s not defending takedowns and all the rest of it. So what is going on?”
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If anyone can do it, it’s Alex Pereira
Alex Pereira proved in 2024 that he’s willing and capable of doing things that many fighters wouldn’t even consider.
Not once but twice did ‘Poatan’ step in with less than ideal circumstances to defend his title, stopping Jamahal Hill at UFC 300 before returning two months later to finish Jiri Prochazka at UFC 303.
According to Sean Strickland, Pereira isn’t just a great energy to have around on fight week, he seemingly has a personal dislike of Dricus Du Plessis.
If there’s any fighter on the roster who would be able to use this weekend as fuel before going on to put in another great performance at UFC 313 next month, it’s him.