UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira will be cornering his former rival-turned-training partner Sean Strickland when the latter fights to reclaim the 185lbs gold at UFC 312. However, the talk of the town has been that a month after that fight, ‘Poatan’ has his own dance of violence with Magomed Ankalaev. This had former double champ Daniel Cormier worried for all the right reasons.
The Russian finally has his shot at UFC gold again and, for many people, he could be a pretty tough challenge for Pereira. As such, Daniel Cormier claimed the Brazilian could be taking a massive risk flying to Australia to corner Strickland in his rematch against Dricus du Plessis. However, Michael Bisping seems to disagree with that notion. In fact, ‘The Count’ believes that it’s a wonderful opportunity for Pereira to stake his claim as a ‘superstar’ and gain even more fans.
“It’s a little bit of moral support, right? It’s great that Alex Pereira was going to do that. I don’t think it’s going to affect his fight against Magomed Ankalaev. That’s about five, six weeks away, something like that. So, it doesn’t really matter,” ‘The Count’ stated on his YouTube channel. “It’s not ideal. It’s not optimum, but you do have to make the most of these opportunities. He isn’t going to be the champ forever… you want to spread your fan base. You wanna go out there and you want to connect with people. That’s how you grow as a star.”
October 5, 2024, Salt Lake City, Ut, Salt Lake City, Ut, United States: Alex Pereira in a 5-round light heavyweight title bout at the Delta Center for UFC307 – Pereira vs Rountree Jr. on October 5, 2024, in Salt Lake City, UT, United States. /PxImages Salt Lake City, Ut United States – ZUMAp175 20241005_zsa_p175_709 Copyright: xLouisxGrassex
Meanwhile, Dricus du Plessis also weighed in on Alex Pereira’s presence in his opponent’s corner at UFC 312, and it didn’t seem like he was bothered at all. Here’s what the middleweight champion had to say.
Dricus du Plessis’ reaction to Alex Pereira cornering Sean Strickland
Dricus du Plessis finds ‘Poatan’s decision to help Sean Strickland a bit amusing. During a recent interview, the South African star mentioned that there is a language barrier between the two former rivals, and he doesn’t feel like it makes any sense to have Alex Pereira in ‘Tarzan’s corner. As such, the middleweight champion feels like there’s nothing to be concerned about when he butts heads against Strickland at UFC 312.
While speaking to ‘CBS Sports’, Du Plessis said, “He was in the corner in the first fight, too. I mean, they don’t even speak the same language. It doesn’t really make much of a difference. Strickland could barely understand his own coach, who’s also American – how is he going to understand Alex Pereira?”
Well, Alex Pereira, who was called out for ‘ducking’ by Magomed Ankalaev, doesn’t seem too worried about his fourth title defense against his Russian counterpart. And next weekend, it will be interesting to see if his presence in Sean Strickland’s corner helps him redeem himself in the rematch against Dricus du Plessis. Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.
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