Sean Strickland had a former foe — and newest training partner — cheering him on during his most recent fight last night (Sat., July 1, 2023) in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Strickland was victorious in his record-setting fifth main event inside UFC Apex, defeating Abus Magomedov via second round technical knockout (watch highlights). In addition, the top-ranked Middleweight contender took home a lucrative “Performance of the Night” bonus for his impressive finish.
After the dust settled on UFC Vegas 76’s headliner, former opponent, Alex Pereira, congratulated his new buddy and released a clip of him watching the fight-finishing sequence.
Congrats @SStricklandMMA #UFCVegas76 pic.twitter.com/EDpWmOx4XI
— Alex "Poatan" Pereira (@AlexPereiraUFC) July 2, 2023
In the video, Pereira’s wife asks for his thoughts on the fight, and the former 185-pound kingpin responds with, “Is this news to you?“ In other words, Pereira knew the fight would go the way it did, which makes sense because he trained with Strickland a few weeks ago in Connecticut.
Pereira knocked out Strickland at UFC 276 in July 2022 (watch highlights), earning a Middleweight championship berth in the process. “Poatan” scored a Hail Mary knockout comeback to win the belt off Israel Adesanya, only for “The Last Stylebender” to return the brutal favor five months later with an epic rope-a-dope performance.
Strickland will now have the opportunity to return whatever favors he owes Pereira, who returns to action against Jan Blachowicz later this month at UFC 291 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
He could use all the help he can get.
For complete UFC Vegas 76 results, coverage and highlights click HERE.
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