Sean
Strickland had a chance to cement himself as a title contender
in the middleweight division at UFC 276.
Instead, he became the latest victim of former two-division Glory
Kickboxing champion Alex
Pereira.
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Strickland elected to stand and trade with his Brazilian opponent
for the duration of their bout, a decision which cost him dearly.
Pereira waited for his opening and then dropped Strickland to a
knee with a left hook before sealing his victory with two follow-up
right hands at the 2:36 mark of Round 1. Strickland was
disappointed after the defeat but also felt like things were going
his way prior to the finish.
“You never want to be someone’s highlight, but that’s the game we
play,” Strickland said in a video on his Instagram account. “I
tried to stand and bang with one of the best kickboxers. The s—-y
part about it was that during the round, I was like, ‘Man, this is
going to be an easy fight. I see everything this guy is throwing.
I’m getting the better of the exchanges. I’m going to beat this guy
up for three rounds.’ And then halfway through, I got caught.
“So hat’s off to Alex, he’s a f—-ing killer. Thank [you] all my
coaches, sorry I didn’t get the win. It’s depressing, I’m going to
be sad for a while. And fans, thank you for supporting me and on to
the next one. It’s time to climb the ladder again.”
Prior to facing Pereira, Strickland had been victorious in his last
six promotional appearances, earning notable triumphs over the
likes of Jack
Hermansson, Uriah Hall
and Brendan
Allen.