Video: Sean Strickland Makes Sure To Keep His Guard High As He Spars With Alex Pereira

Even in training, Sean Strickland isn’t willing to take the chance of Alex Pereira catching him with another one of his devastating left hooks.

Pereira revealed earlier this month that he was planning on improving his English ahead of a move up to the light heavyweight division, with his former opponent Strickland tabbed as someone that would help round out his grasp of the language.

Strickland was brutally knocked out in the first round when he and Pereira met at UFC 276 last year, and recent footage posted on Pereira’s YouTube channel shows the 32-year-old arriving at the gym before cracking a joke about the Brazilian potentially knocking him out again.

The two fighters proceed to warm up before a bit of sparring, which appeared noticeably light compared to the wild sessions Strickland typically likes to engage in. Pereira’s extensive striking background shines through even with both fighters taking it easy, although “Tarzan” can’t help but comment on how hard the Brazilian hits. 

Sean Strickland And Alex Pereira Both Set To Return In July 

Pereira’s win over Strickland at UFC 276 was only his third fight in the UFC, but the performance was impressive enough for the UFC to give him a middleweight title shot against Israel Adesanya.

“Poatan” claimed the UFC’s middleweight belt and improved to 3-0 over his former kickboxing rival when he stopped Adesanya in the fifth round at UFC 281, but his reign as champion was cut short when “The Last Stylebender” got his revenge at UFC 287. Pereira will now be moving up to the light heavyweight division at UFC 291, where he’ll take on former champion Jan Błachowicz.

Strickland’s loss to Pereira snapped a six-fight winning streak, and the 32-year-old ended up suffering back-to-back losses for the first time in his career when he dropped a split decision to Jared Cannonier in his next bout. 

“Tarzan” got back into the win column when he stepped up to defeat Nassourdine Imavov on short notice at the UFC’s first event of 2023, and fans will get to see if his training with Pereira has paid off at all when he meets Abus Magomedov in the main event of a UFC Fight Night next month.

Read Also: Jan Błachowicz: UFC Has Guaranteed Title Shot With Win Over Alex Pereira