Sean Strickland and Alex Pereira had quite the tangle during a recent gym spar, and they uploaded the footage to social media so everyone can enjoy it.
Strickland and Pereira have quite the history. Pereira knocked Strickland out cold back in 2022, and it was that first round KO that earned the former GLORY kickboxing champion a shot at his rival and then-UFC middleweight champ Israel Adesanya. “Poatan” would make the most of that opportunity, finishing “The Last Stylebender” in the fifth round for his first UFC belt.
Now Pereira is preparing to fight for his third belt in a third division, taking on Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight title at the UFC White House card. Helping him prepare for that? Sean Strickland, who is now Pereira’s friend and regular training partner.
Footage released by Pereira show Strickland stomping on the canvas with 11 seconds left in their sparring round, calling on “Poatan” to stand and bang. Pereira obliges, stepping in and throwing combo after combo that Strickland struggled to block. In the last few seconds, Strickland got offensive and started throwing back. Even at 50% power, it was an impressive display.
“We were sparring at at one point he got me to drop my hand,” Strickland said. “At that moment, I just said ‘Nah dude, we’re done.’”
Strickland knows what happens when you walk into Pereira with a hand too low: that’s exactly how he got flatlined back at UFC 276 by a left hook from the Brazilian knockout artist.
Strickland will be dealing with a whole different kettle of fish when he fights Khamzat Chimaev for the middleweight title at UFC 328 on May 9th. Hopefully he’s working on his wrestling and grappling as much as his striking.
