Brazilian Trainers, Fighters Break Down Sean Strickland-Alex Pereira Bout at UFC 276

With two title bouts at the top of the card,
UFC 276
is undoubtedly one of the years most highly-anticipated
events.

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But for the Brazilian audience, one fight is drawing even more
attention than the two championship pairings. Given their past
history in the kickboxing ring, there is a legitimate possibility
that Alex
Pereira
could be next in line for a shot at Israel
Adesanya
’s middleweight belt if both men are victorious at UFC
276. As a result, Brazilian fans are intrigued by Pereira’s matchup
with Sean
Strickland
, who enters Saturday’s event on a six-fight winning
streak.

Ahead of “Poatan” vs. Strickland, several Brazilian trainers and
fighters weighed in on the pivotal middleweight contest:

Bruno
Silva
: I really don’t like this Strickland guy. He just talks
trash and disrespects opponents. I´m really cheering for ‘Poatan’
to take his head off. Not only because ‘Poatan’ defeated me, but
for his respectful demeanor outside of the cage. That made me
respect him even more after our fight. Also because I truly believe
that, sooner or later, we will meet again. This time however, in a
five-round fight for the belt.

Ronaldo
Souza
: Strickland is a very strange guy to fight against, but I
believe ‘Poatan’ will come with a great strategy to beat him. I
trained with ‘Poatan’ and showed some jiu-jitsu skills to him. This
guy is like a sponge. He learns very fast and is very humble. All
the ingredients to be a champion.

Rafael
Cordeiro
(Kings MMA head coach): Strickland went to Kings a
couple of times and did tough sparring with [Marvin] Vettori. He is
very hard to spar against. Long range, very aggressive, always
walking forward. ‘Poatan’ is the favorite, but I don’t visualize an
easy fight.

Fabricio
Werdum
: Strickland went to Kings a couple of times. One day I
called him up to spar with me and he said no. After that, every
time I saw him in Kings, I didn’t say hello, I just kicked his
butt. A real fighter can’t choose sparring partners. Many times,
Beneil [Dariush], [Marvin] Vettori, and Kelvin
Gastelum
trained with me while I weighed 242 pounds. I believe
he will try to take ‘Poatan’ down, but ‘Poatan’ will use his muay
Thai to apply pressure and Strickland will [fight scared].

Mano Santana (Karate trainer of Pitbull brothers): I had the
opportunity to spend some days with ‘Poatan’. Besides being a
master of distance control and a gifted striker. ‘Poatan’ is really
studious about fighting. This guy talks about fighting techniques
from breakfast until when he goes to sleep. I believe Strickland is
a very tough opponent, but a good match up for him.”

Paulo
Filho
: ‘Poatan’ needs to adapt to MMA a little more. He was
just tested against strikers. I think Strickland is a good fight
for him, since this guy is a brawler. A bad fight for him would be
someone who wouldn’t accept trading punches and take him down and
control him on the ground. That’s not the case with Strickland.

Vinicio Antony: ‘Poatan’ must control the distance and avoid brawls
like he did with ‘Blindado’ and use his low kicks to bother
Strickland … ‘Poatan’ is more technical. If he uses the right
strategy, he may win easily, but if he repeats what he did against
‘Blindado,’ he may get knocked out or smashed in three rounds.

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