It doesn't work that way - Brendan Schaub doesn't see Alex Pereira fighting Israel Adesanya if he beats Sean Strickland

Brendan Schaub doesn't think Alex Pereira will get an immediate title shot if he beats Sean Strickland at UFC 277. According to Schaub, the UFC is building up Pereira as there is a lack of competition for Israel Adesanya in the middleweight division.

Schaub doesn't think 'Poatan' can catapult his way to the title despite the fact that he has two wins over Adesanya dating back to their kickboxing days. The TUF alum believes Pereira will need to prove himself against another top contender at 185lbs before catering to title aspirations. The 39-year-old recently said on an episode of The Schaub Show:

"There's not a lot going on there. That's why they are building up that guy [Pereira] who beat him [Adesanya] in Glory. He's fighting Sean Strickland, which is a tough f***ing fight for him but if he gets past that he still would have to get past a [Robert] Whittaker, or a [Marvin] Vettori or some of these monsters that are one through five. Just because you beat Strickland doesn't mean you just catapult to the title shot. I don't think it works like that."

Watch the latest episode of The Schaub Show below:

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Alex Pereira claims Israel Adesanya is scared to fight him

Alex Pereira is one of the most decorated strikers on the UFC roster. The former two-division Glory kickboxing champion has even recorded two wins over Israel Adesanya and has the distinction of being the only fighter to have knocked him out.

It was recently revealed that a bout between Pereira and surging prospect Sean Strickland is being targeted for UFC 277 in July. This naturally gave rise to speculation about a potential encounter between Adesanya and Pereira if 'Poatan' got the better of Strickland.

However, Pereira doesn't think 'The Last Stylebender' is keen to fight him. The Brazilian believes that Adesanya is deliberately ducking him as the UFC middleweight champion is scared of losing to him for a third time. The 34-year-old told MMA Fighting’s Portuguese-language podcast Trocação Franca in an earlier interview (Quotes translated by MMAFighting):

"Someone crazy for a fight will say, ‘I want this guy, I want to prove I’m better than him.' He’s fooling his fan base. People should pressure him. The least he could do is say, ‘F*ck, I’ll show my fans that I’m the best and that’s why they follow me.’ But that’s not what he’s doing. He’s scared shit."