“100 percent” - Alex Pereira rates Sean Strickland higher than Dricus du Plessis to beat UFC champion Israel Adesanya

Alex Pereira believes Sean Strickland has a better chance of defeating Israel Adesanya than Dricus Du Plessis.

In March of this year, Adesanya knocked out Pereira to regain the UFC middleweight title. Now that ‘Poatan’ is moving to light heavyweight, the reigning 185-pound king is left with two primary title contenders - Strickland and Du Plessis.

During the UFC 291 media day, Pereira was asked about Strickland fighting Adesanya and had this to say:

“Fighting Israel Adesanya is always a hard fight, but I showed that he can be beaten. Sean Strickland has a chance, different gameplan, it’s hard, but if anybody has a chance against Adesanya, that will be Sean Strickland, but it’s a hard fight.”

‘Poatan’ received a follow-up question about whether or not Strickland has a better chance to defeat Adesanya than Du Plessis. He responded by saying:

“100%”

Adesanya is expected to defend his middleweight throne on September 9 in the main event of UFC 293. ‘The Last Stylebender’ was hoping to fight Du Plessis, but he won’t be available after defeating Robert Whittaker on July 8. Luckily, Strickland plans to accept the opportunity if offered despite fighting one week before ‘Stillknocks.’

---

Alex Pereira describes Sean Strickland as a ‘very nice guy’ after training together

Alex Pereira and Sean Strickland trained together at Glover Teixeira’s gym in June. Although Strickland has a reputation as a controversial person, Pereira revealed he had good interactions with him while training. ‘Poatan’ had this to say during the UFC 291 media day:

“He’s actually a very nice guy. He swears a lot but nice guy. Maybe he does that for the cameras, but he came to Glover’s gym, nice guy, humble guy. The atmosphere there is families, it’s a family gym, kids, all types of people. The guy got adapt to the vibe, not the vibe adapt to the guy. Nobody had to get his attention, at the end of the day, he blended in very good.”

On Saturday, July 29, Alex Pereira will fight at light heavyweight for the first time in the Octagon. He will have a massive opportunity in the UFC 291 co-main event, as the winner between him and Jan Balchowicz will likely earn a title shot for the vacant 205-pound throne.