Amid rumors of a potential one-off return to his former middleweight division, Alex Pereira would be a “nightmare” matchup for former divisional champion Sean Strickland, according to Strickland’s head coach, Eric Nicksick.
Pereira, a former undisputed middleweight champion and the current light heavyweight titleholder, considered making a dramatic one-time return to the 185-pound division last weekend. This contemplation came in direct response to Dricus du Plessis’ submission victory over their mutual rival, Israel Adesanya.
Sao Paulo knockout specialist Pereira is already scheduled for his next Octagon appearance, where he will headline UFC 307 in early October. He is set to face the rising star Khalil Rountree in what will be his third fight of the year.
Additionally, as Pereira considers a possible drop back to his previous weight class, Strickland might find himself linked to a rematch with the Brazilian. However, UFC President Dana White has indicated that Strickland is more likely to face du Plessis in a title rematch instead.
A Rematch with Alex Pereira Dubbed a “Nightmare” for Sean Strickland
In their 2022 matchup, Strickland suffered a shocking first-round knockout loss to Pereira in a middleweight title-eliminator bout. However, coach Nicksick is against the idea of his fighter facing the aggressive Pereira again if he has any influence on the matchmaking.
“That would be a nightmare,” Eric Nicksick said to Submission Radio about the idea of a rematch between Sean Strickland and Alex Pereira. “It’s a nightmare to go through that again. Just stay up at 205 pounds, man, and do your thing up there. We’re good.”
Since headlining UFC 303 at the end of June during International Fight Week, Pereira has been sidelined after delivering a spectacular second-round high-kick knockout victory over Jiri Prochazka in their title rematch in Las Vegas.
Leave a Reply