Sean Strickland will have a champion in his corner at UFC 312.
Strickland (29-6 MMA, 16-6 UFC) rematches middleweight champ Dricus Du Plessis (22-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) in the Feb. 8 headliner at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. The main card streams on ESPN+ pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN2 and ESPN+.
Xtreme Couture head coach Eric Nicksick revealed that Strickland’s former opponent, UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, will corner him for his title fight. Pereira knocked out Strickland in the first round at UFC 276, but the pair have since linked up and trained together.
“We will have Alex Pereira in the corner, so dropping the news right now,” Nicksick told The Schmo. “He’s a good friend of Sean. He’s a great training partner. Obviously, these guys have fought, but after the fight, I think it takes a man to go and learn from the guy who caught you with something.
“These guys trained with each other a ton. Sean went up there to help him get ready for Khalil Rountree, and I love having him, man. It’s great energy, so we just talked yesterday. We were going to have the fourth, and it was going to be Alex. So, I can’t wait having him.”
Strickland will attempt to regain his middleweight title from Du Plessis, who dethroned him by split decision in a closely contested battle at UFC 297 last January.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 312.
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