Sean Strickland hilariously takes offense to Alex Pereira's knockout of him being repeated at UFC 287

Sean Strickland (Left); Alex Pereira punching Strickland en route to a KO victory (Right)
Sean Strickland (Left); Alex Pereira punching Strickland en route to a KO victory (Right)

Sean Strickland has hilariously expressed his disagreement with the UFC using footage of his KO loss to Alex Pereira in the UFC 287 promotional videos. UFC middleweight champion Pereira is scheduled to defend his title against Israel Adesanya at tonight's (April 8th, 2023) UFC 287 event.

'Poatan' defeated Adesanya via unanimous decision in 2016 and by way of third-round KO in 2017 in their kickboxing bouts. Their third combat sports contest against one another was an MMA bout in the UFC in November 2022. The MMA matchup saw Pereira beat Adesanya via fifth-round TKO to win the UFC middleweight belt.

Prior to his title-winning performance against Israel Adesanya, Alex Pereira faced Sean Strickland in a number-one contender's matchup in July 2022. 'Poatan' won the fight by knocking Strickland out. Footage of Pereira's thunderous KO of 'Tarzan' has been used in several UFC highlight packages ever since.

The knockout has also been featured in the UFC's promotional material for the Alex Pereira vs. Israel Adesanya clash at UFC 287. UFC middleweight Sean Strickland has now taken to Twitter to jestingly suggest that the UFC shouldn't use footage of his loss but can instead utilize footage of Adesanya's losses to Pereira. Strickland tweeted:

"Let me tell you all what s**ks about being a corner on this card.... Its me getting knocked out by Alex on repeat lmao!!!!!!!!! Mother f**ker use Izzy as a B roll!"

Sean Strickland poses with Alex Pereira's team, explains how Israel Adesanya can beat 'Poatan' at UFC 287

On episode #4 of the UFC 287 Embedded: Vlog Series, Sean Strickland posed with Alex Pereira and the latter's team backstage during UFC 287 fight week. Strickland, who himself suffered a vicious knockout defeat against Pereira, warned that 'Izzy' should avoid the middleweight kingpin's vaunted KO power at UFC 287.

Sean Strickland harked back to the last fight between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira, which transpired in November 2022. It saw 'Izzy' evade Pereira and outpoint him on the judges' scorecards before getting TKO'd late in their showdown. 'Tarzan' indicated that akin to that fight, Adesanya should use his elusive movement to steer clear of Pereira's power. Strickland said:

"It's gonna be hard man, run around and dance and I mean it all just comes down if Alex should track him down like in the last fight. It's not a hard fight because Izzy's gonna fight, it's a hard fight because if Izzy can run and hide he has a chance like last fight... Me and Izzy are a little genetically different but, man get on that bike and run sir. Don't let that big motherf**ker touch you."

Watch Strickland's assessment at 4:14 in the video below:

youtube-cover

Quick Links

App download animated image Get the free App now