Sean Strickland thinks a win over Alex Pereira will be enough to secure him a shot at the middleweight title even though ‘Poatan’ is currently unranked at 185lbs.
Strickland recently spoke with excitement to Helen Yee about his fight with Pereira which is set to take place at UFC 277 on July 30, he said.
“The f*cking guy knocked out Izzy. The guy’s a f*cking savage. I actually kind of enjoy, and I’ll tell you why. (Paulo) Costa, to me, is an easy paycheck. All my last fights, all great men, all solid f*cking dudes. But walking into those fights, you’re kind of just like, ‘I’m better than you, I’m better than you, I’m better than you.’
“With Alex, it’s kind of like this scary thing. It kind of gets me excited. You see him, you’re like, ‘Oh man, you’re a big, scary-looking kickboxer, I want to fight you.’ So I do like the fact that he does have that unknown factor – new blood.”
In June, a pivotal middleweight match-up between Robert Whittaker and Marvin Vettori takes place at UFC 275 in Singapore. Whoever wins will surely fancy themselves the number one contender at 185lbs but Strickland is confident it’ll be him or Pereira who gets the next shot at the title.
“Whittaker and Marvin – and again, I love Marvin; he’s a savage – but Whittaker and Marvin, they had their shot,” Strickland said. “The winner of me and Alex should get the title (shot), absolutely. I think everybody wants that.” (Transcribed by MMA Junkie)
Sean Strickland’s Rise To Prominence
Strickland put on a dominant display to beat top contender Jack Hermansson in the main event of the evening at UFC Vegas 47 to establish himself as a true 185lb contender.
The 31-year-old is riding a five-fight win streak since relocating to the middleweight division in 2020. Strickland has picked up big wins over the likes of Uriah Hall, Krzysztof Jotko and Brendan Allen.
Do you agree with Sean Strickland about who’s next in line at middleweight?
