Brazilian Coaches Warn Alex Pereira That Difficult Test Awaits vs. Sean Strickland

After kicking off his Octagon tenure with two impressive wins, Alex Pereira will make his third promotional appearance against ranked middleweight Sean Strickland at UFC 276 on July 2.

As a result of two kickboxing victories against Israel Adesanya, another impressive performance against Strickland could fast track Pereira to a title shot against “The Last Stylebender.”

While oddsmakers have “Poatan” as a slight favorite against Strickland, Brazilian trainers Rafael Cordeiro and Vinicio Anthony are not so optimistic about Pereira’s chances.

"He went to Kings [MMA] a couple of times and did tough sparring with [Marvin] Vettori,” Cordeiro told Sherdog.com. “He is very hard to spar against. Long range, very aggressive, always walking forward. I agree ‘Poatan’ should be favored but I don’t visualize an easy fight.”

Antony, the former head coach of Vitor Belfort and Lyoto Machida, takes it one step further.

"If Poatan fights in the same reckless way he fought Bruno Silva, he may be knocked out or lose via three rounds of ground-and-pound,” he said.

Antony says Strickland made a strong impression on him when Strickland sparred against Machida for five rounds as “The Dragon” was preparing to face Rafael Carvalho in Bellator.

"He gave a really hard time to Lyoto in the first two rounds,” Antony said. “We needed to completely change the strategy in order for Machida to win the last three rounds. What impressed me the most about him was his fast transition from striking to takedowns. He got Lyoto down many times, and I believe Lyoto has a much better takedown defense than ‘Poatan.’”

Antony believes there is a clear path for Pereira to win the fight against Strickland.

"Control the distance, avoid brawls like he did with Silva and use his low kicks to bother Strickland, since he does not have good movement,” Antony said. “‘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.”