Pereira Not ‘Surprised’ By Strickland’s Win Over Adesanya

In the MMA latest updates, Alex Pereira has given his take on Sean Strickland’s victory over Israel Adesanya at UFC 293. 

In a bout that went down in Sydney, Australia, Strickland shocked the world to secure a unanimous-points-decision win to get the UFC middleweight title.

It was Izzy’s first defense of the title following his win over Pereira after having stopped the latter in the second round. The fight against Strickland was seen as a routine bout in the hope of then facing Dricus Du Plessis in a mega fight. However, the loss has now delayed the possibility of that fight. And yet, Pereira was not shocked by the outcome. 

Pereira On Strickland

“Since this fight was booked, people were asking me what I think about this fight, and I always said from all the guys out there, the one that had the biggest chance was Sean Strickland. The way that he fights and putting everything together, he’s a good fighter. From their fight, I saw some stuff that Sean was doing that was working for him. I’m not going to get into details so I don’t help Adesanya in a rematch, but I’m not surprised. Sean did a great job and I was expecting that,” Pereira stated 

Pereira’s Future

The defeat was also significant for Pereira. Before the Strickland fight, he was open to moving back down to middleweight from light heavyweight in order to face Izzy in a trilogy.

After all, their record in the UFC is 1-1, leaving the door open for another fight. But since Adesanya no longer holds the belt, the prospect of that fight has died down. Therefore, staying at light heavyweight appears to be the plan.

The former middleweight champion began his first fight at the weight class with a victory over Jan Blachowicz. That put him in line to fight for the vacant title against Jiri Prochazka at UFC 295.

The belt was freed up following Jamahal Hill’s injury. The fighter had ruptured his Achilles tendon, which opened the way for Pereira. That is why Adesanya is now out of the question. 

Pereira On Adesanya

“No, no. It’s not in my plans [to go back down to middleweight]. My plan was if Israel Adesanya was still the champion there, maybe win the light heavyweight belt and make a fight with him. But now, no. Sean’s my friend, and also, it’s not a weight cut I’m looking to do. I always made weight, never missed weight or anything like that, but it is a hard weight cut, so right now it’s not in my interest,” Pereira

Nevertheless, a fight with Hill could occur later down the line. He is still the champion in most people’s eyes, as the injury did nothing to take away his feat in beating Glover Teixeira to get the title.

Although that may have been the case, Hill won the belt after it became vacant following an injury to Jiri Prochazka. So, in reality, the roles have been reversed.