Sean Strickland is not blind to the UFC’s intentions with his matchup against Alex Pereira.
Strickland meets the former two-division GLORY kickboxing champion at UFC 276 on Saturday. The controversial American is at a perfect 5-0 since gaining weight to 185 pounds and is currently the No. 8 MMA Fighting middleweight in the world. Pereira, on the other hand, has only amassed five wins overall throughout his MMA career and enters the pay-per-view fight just 2-0 in the UFC without a single win over a ranked opponent.
Despite that inexperience, UFC President Dana White has already made it clear that if Pereira manages to get past Strickland, if only for the sake of history, Pereira could be next in line for a title shot against winner Israel Adesanya vs. Jared Cannonier by Pereira and Adesanya share from their kickboxing days. And it’s safe to say that Strickland understands exactly why the UFC targeted him as the man to test Pereira at UFC 276.
“If we learned about the UFC rankings, [they] means nothing,” Strickland said Wednesday at UFC 276 media day. “At the end of the day, it means nothing. He’s the one who KO’d Izzy so here’s what you can do: you can let him go and then eventually he’ll fight a wrestler who will trip him up and hit him and then they’ll never shoot Izzy, or her could be like, “Hey, why don’t we let him fight Sean? Sean doesn’t like wrestling. Maybe, if [Pereira] hit him, then we could levitate him up.’
“So that’s literally just a ploy by the UFC to put him up against someone who likes to punch to potentially give him an izzy shot. So, UFC, I applaud you, but I could fucking wrestle.”
The Pereira-Adesanya rivalry has been on the UFC’s radar since Pereira made his debut with a spectacular KO of Andreas Michailidis in November 2021.
Pereira and Adesanya previously fought twice in kickboxing. When they first met in April 2016, the Brazilian won a decision on the future UFC champion. A year later, Pereira scored a highlight knockout against Adesanya in the March 2017 rematch.
But even as Strickland knows his greatest assets will be on the mat at UFC 276, he’s not intimidated by the prospect of taking on the former GLORY doubles champion.
“Here’s the thing, man. Here’s the damn thing. let me tell you something There’s not a single GLORY f****** kickboxer in any damn weight class that I can’t stand and punch with,” Stickland said. “So don’t fucking tell me just because you’re a fucking Brazilian and you KO’d Izzy 20 years ago I can’t stand that fucking shit with you.
“Come on, motherfucker. Get out.”
That being said, Strickland admitted he’s not afraid to call out a siren if things quickly go south against Pereira at UFC 276 when the time comes.
“We’ll find out,” said Strickland. “I don’t really go with a game plan. I mean, of course, if I go in there and he starts fucking hurting me, yeah, I’m going to take the coward’s route and try to wrestle.
“But hopefully I can stand and bang with this gigantic creepy Brazilian.”