Pereira is far from impartial when it comes to the
UFC 328 main attraction.
Sean
Strickland (30-7) is scheduled to challenge Khamzat
Chimaev (15-0) for the middleweight title in the main event at
UFC 328. The two will collide on May 9 at the Prudential Center in
Newark, New Jersey. To get some hard sparring in, Strickland roped
in Pereira to help finalize his camp. The two former foes collided
at UFC 276 in 2022, with “Poatan” crushing Strickland in the first
round. An unlikely friendship bloomed from the one-sided
shellacking.
Due to their growing kinship, Pereira will be rooting hard for
friend Strickland. “Poatan” says he had learned a lot since he
started working with Strickland a few years ago, so much so that he
has become a cornerman for Strickland. Pereira lauded Strickland’s
precise jab as one of the American’s best weapons, while
prognosticating that the jab and front kick will be key weapons
against Chimaev’s wrestling pressure. Pereira said on a UFC 328
Countdown video:
“Before our fight, I saw him differently,” Pereira admitted. “But
once he stepped into the Octagon, you could see it on his face, he
was a different guy. He is a warrior. The first time we trained
together was after our fight. I learned a lot from those sessions;
he’s got a lot of experience. He knows his craft. He’s always
moving forward, firing that jab. That’s a great weapon he has.
Everyone knows that I’m rooting for Sean
Strickland. He’s got to stay composed, keep pressing forward,
stay alert, watch out for the takedowns, and use his jab and front
kick. I’m really excited and motivated for this fight, and I hope
he gets the win.”
After vicious knocking out Strickland, the Brazilian went on to win
the middleweight title against Israel
Adesanya in his next fight, only to lose it in their immediate
rematch. Adesanya then dropped his title to Strickland in a huge
upset, but Strickland and “Poatan” did not run it back because the
Brazilian had other plans. Moving up to 205 pounds, Pereira instead
won that title and defended it thrice within a year. The
38-year-old has subsequent moved up to heavyweight to challenge
Ciryl
Gane at the White House on June 14, effectively removing any
possibility of him facing Strickland again.