Eric Nicksick recently revealed Alex Pereira's reaction to UFC 312's Dricus du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland title rematch. Nicksick stated that 'Poatan' was disappointed with the American's performance inside the octagon and thanked Pereira for cornering Strickland.
In hopes of reclaiming his title, Strickland took on du Plessis in the main event of UFC 312 this past weekend and suffered a unanimous decision defeat. Notably, 'Tarzan' had Pereira in his corner, as the two have formed a close relationship in recent years. Strickland also helped Pereira train for his title fight against Khalil Rountree Jr. at UFC 307 in Utah last year.
In his recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Nicksick detailed having Pereira in their corner for the du Plessis vs. Strickland bout. The Xtreme Couture head coach said:
''He's [Pereira] cool man, like, he's just intimidating all hell. So but he was cool like he leaned over a few times and he's looking at me like what the hell is going on with Sean? He's cool, a lot of great insight. Love having him there. Lot of people thought that he flew all the way out there to corner Sean, that was not the case. He was already there. That's why we wanted him in the corner, he was already there. He was already a resource for us.''
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Check out Eric Nicksick's comments below:
In the same interview, Nicksick disclosed that he, too, is disappointed with Strickland's performance. He said:
''I was just uninspired fighting, to me. It just seemed like he was sleepwalking. It was tough, man. I was trying to dig him out of it through the rounds... I just didn’t feel like that he was in it the way most of the times that he is.''
Magomed Ankalaev previews Alex Pereira title bout at UFC 313
Alex Pereira defended his light heavyweight title thrice in 2024, against Jamahal Hill, Jiri Prochazka, and Khalil Rountree Jr. The Brazilian will be back in action next month at UFC 313 on March 8, when he'll look to retain his belt against Magomed Ankalaev.
While Ankalaev has been respectful towards all his prior opponents, there's clearly bad blood between the Dagestani and Pereira. The top-ranked 205-pounder has been relentless on X, with his latest tweet reading:
''I never wanna hurt someone in my life like I want hurt Alex. He is a fake humble boy''
Check out Magomed Ankalaev's post below: