Alex Pereira vs Sean Strickland Pick & Promo
Last updated July 1, 2022
Alex Pereira is a -120 favorite against Sean Strickland. Their middleweight fight takes place at UFC 276 on Saturday July 2nd, 2022. These fighters will make the walk around 11PM EST.
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Alex Pereira -120 vs Sean Strickland
The winner of this fight will earn the next title shot at middleweight.
✅ AlexPereira is a world class kickboxer. He had great success in that realm and holds a win over current champ Israel Adesanya. The promotion has brought him along quickly as he is 34 years old and it is now or never for him. Pereira has two wins in two fights, but it has not all been roses for him. He was taken down twice in both fights, and truly got stuck for a round in his first fight. He did score a KO of Andreas Michalidis, but that win did not quite age well. Michalidis was dominated in his next fight. Pereira was also not able to score a KO in his next fight, which could be problematic as his opponent is extremely durable. Pereira also has a bit of questions whether his gas tank will keep up later in the fight.
✅ Sean Strickland is on a five fight streak and has no worries about making the transition from kickboxing to MMA. He’s a completely rounded fighter and a truly fantastic striker. His hands are truly great, he keeps the pace and volume really high, and is quite durable. While he is not going to be the prettier striker on paper, his pace and style is not going to be a favorable matchup for Pereira. If Pereira tries to keep pace to take the first round, we could see his cardio fail later. If he does not, he will be fighting from behind. Additionally, Strickland has sound wrestling in his back pocket. He will be able to get the fight to the mat if the striking is not going his way. Strickland expressed a willingness to wrestler if need be this week. We will learn just how much Pereira has learned about returning to his feet if that happens.
✅ It feels like a universal opinion that Pereira is the better striker, I believe Strickland to be better equipped for MMA. Volume truly matters and Strickland is going to win that battle. It is difficult to envision Strickland being flash knocked out at 185, so the flash KO is truly a low percentage outcome. Strickland also has the wrestling and grappling advantage to fall back on if needed, and I believe him to be the better conditioned fighter. What’s more, we get +100 on him. Take Strickland to be the next to get a crack at Adesanya.
