Daniel Cormier is intrigued by Alex Pereira’s partnership with Sean Strickland, but cautions “Poatan” on overextending himself.
Strickland’s coach Eric Nicksick recently revealed that Pereira will be in Strickland’s corner when he rematches middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis in main event of UFC 312, which takes place Feb. 8 in Sydney. This is the second time Pereira has cornered Strickland, as he was also part of his team at UFC 297, where Strickland lost the middleweight belt to du Plessis via a close split decision. The two developed a training relationship after Pereira scored a knockout victory over Strickland in 2022.
With Pereira’s UFC 313 light heavyweight title defense against Magomed Ankalaev right around the corner on March 8, Cormier questioned whether it’s a good idea for Pereira to be dividing his time so freely.
“We don’t know what those training sessions look like, but I think what you don’t understand as people on the outside is it’s more than just the training,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “It’s the bond that’s built outside of the training. How much time are these guys spending together to build a relationship once they are outside of the gym? This, to me, tells me that Pereira and Strickland are building a relationship that’s very strong. Why? Because we already know that Pereira has a fight on the books. Las Vegas. UFC 313.
“What we do know is that Alex Pereira is going to be fighting a guy who could be his most formidable opponent because of the style. But we also have to take into effect that his relationship with Strickland is so strong that he’s willing to travel across the world to corner him. To me, it seems dangerous. To me, 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 is a risk.”
So far, whatever Pereira is doing has worked for him, as he’s become one of the UFC’s biggest stars after making his octagon debut in 2021. Pereira was a two-division champion in kickboxing and has accomplished the same feat in MMA, defeating longtime rival Israel Adesanya for the middleweight title at UFC 281 and then capturing light heavyweight gold with a win over Jiri Prochazka at UFC 295. He has successfully defended the 205-pound belt three straight times.
It’s his fourth challenger that has fans wondering if the Poatan era is about to come to an end. Ankalaev is unbeaten in 13 straight appearances and his mixture of striking and wrestling makes him the perfect foil for Pereira on paper. Cormier added in that all the travel Pereira is doing ahead of this title defense could make his next defense even more difficult.
“When you look at Ankalaev and you look at the way those guys have been going back and forth,” Cormier said. “When you look at the fighting style or the ability, it all boils down to this: Alex Pereira could beat up Ankalaev’s legs, as we saw Jan Blachowicz do, and him look like he could not stand. But Ankalaev has that ability to take him down and hold him down. He said he ain’t going to do that. To me, it would seem like a massive mistake to not do that, or to anyone in the world that watches fighting and knows what it takes to get a victory.
“It seems like Ankalaev should use that wrestling he showed in rounds 4 and 5 [against Blachowicz] to win those rounds against Alex Pereira. Hell, we saw Jan Blachowicz hold Alex Pereira down for a round and a half in what still is his most competitive fight since going up to 205. But to add to that the travel, different time zone, the sleep patterns and sleep schedule, it’s difficult. It’s difficult to add that. So to me, Sean Strickland must be one of Alex Pereira’s best friends because you don’t do that for just anything, anybody.”
Cormier is keeping in mind that even if Pereira’s pre-fight behavior seems unconventional, there is nothing about his run to the top that has been conventional in the slightest. Pereira won his first UFC title in his eighth pro MMA fight and his second in his 11th fight. Along the way, the Brazilian striker’s all-around game has frequently been questioned by critics, but he just keeps winning.
It’s Pereira’s inimitable career path that leaves Cormier feeling like he could pull off yet another memorable victory.
“Now one thing I won’t do is question Alex,” Cormier said. “I’m done. I won’t question whether or not he can wrestle, I won’t question any of that anymore, because he has proven it time and time again that whatever he’s doing is right and it’s allowed for him to become one of the greatest fighters of all time. Yes, he is one of the greatest fighters of all time in the shortest amount of time I have ever seen anyone building a legacy that is that strong or a résumé that is that strong, never seen it.
“I’ve never seen someone do what Pereira has done and he’s a free spirit and maybe that free spirit allows for him to be as good as he’s been. This dude’s the man and if he gets through this next challenge, if he gets through Ankalaev, I’m going on the record and saying that light heavyweight is going to have a Poatan problem for a really long time.”
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Meltdown. Conor McGregor is feuding with Paul Hughes for some reason. Whatever.
KO of the Century? Shara Magomedov believes his double spinning backfist knockout tops Max Holloway’s UFC 300 heroics.
Corner, man. Alex Pereira will be on hand to support Sean Strickland at UFC 312.
When? Michael Bisping gives his take on whether we’ll ever see Jon Jones fight Tom Aspinall.
VIDEO STEW
Don’t miss a brand new Between the Links today.
MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck chats with UFC Saudi Arabia co-main event star Shara Bullet.
UFC Saudi Arabia media day.
UFC Saudi Arabia fight week with Israel Adesanya.
Benavidez and Morrell get ready for the weekend.
Zhang Weili’s most recent title defense.
Inside scoop on one to watch on the jiu-jitsu scene.
FLAVOR IN YOUR EAR
No Bets Barred. MMA Fighting’s Jed Meshew brings you the best bets for UFC Saudi Arabia.
SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE
The week’s fight schedule.
Live Combat Sport Schedule: 1/30 - 2/2
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) January 29, 2025
Complete schedule w/ fight cards, PPV & free live streams HERE:
▶️https://t.co/nI909fJnwo#UFCSaudiArabia #BenavidezMorrell #BKFCMOHEGANSUN #ShieldsPerkins #AzimLipinets #OKTAGON66 #CFFC139 #DWT #LUX049 #AlashPride105 #BYB36 #HexagoneMMA pic.twitter.com/NGwd9BNqps
Old Man Volk with the life hacks.
Either/or.
Star turn.
You had to be there.
A moment in time https://t.co/m9a5an88ep pic.twitter.com/iztjWsy0Gu
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) January 29, 2025
Pointless beef.
If we just did boxing for 12 rounds he wouldn’t win one Round https://t.co/XCvifZI5rs
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) January 29, 2025
I hope you are joking my mate. I’ve seen you strike. You are piss poor. Come sparring in England.
— DT (@darrentill2) January 29, 2025
Ddakji.
Not as easy as Squid Game made it out to be
— UFC_AUSNZ (@UFC_AUSNZ) January 29, 2025
A little bit of fun on media day with the #UFCSaudiArabia athletes! pic.twitter.com/qvNoWl2WOL
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Aleksandre Topuria (5-1) vs. Colby Thicknesse (7-0); UFC 312, Feb. 8
Jim Miller (38-18, 1 NC) vs. Chase Hooper (15-3-1); UFC 314, April 12
FINAL THOUGHTS
As Cormier said, logically Pereira should probably be focusing on his own fight as opposed to flying to Australia to back Strickland, but what do we know? Have you seen what this guy has done in his combat sports career? There is no comparison, so you have to just let the man cook.
This is like that episode of NewsRadio (starring a young Joe Rogan!) where Matthew becomes super smart thanks to an experimental drug and they find him reading four books at the same time, and when asked why one of them is upside-down, he says, “Have you ever read four books at a time? Then don’t tell me how to do it.”
Have you ever been a two-division champion in both kickboxing and MMA? No? Then don’t tell Pereira how to do it.
EXIT POLL
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