Daniel Cormier is intrigued by Alex Pereira’s partnership with Sean Strickland, but cautions “Poatan” on overextending himself.

Strickland’s coach Eric Nicksick recently revealed that Pereira will be in Strickland’s corner when he rematches middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis in main event of UFC 312, which takes place Feb. 8 in Sydney. This is the second time Pereira has cornered Strickland, as he was also part of his team at UFC 297, where Strickland lost the middleweight belt to du Plessis via a close split decision. The two developed a training relationship after Pereira scored a knockout victory over Strickland in 2022.

With Pereira’s UFC 313 light heavyweight title defense against Magomed Ankalaev right around the corner on March 8, Cormier questioned whether it’s a good idea for Pereira to be dividing his time so freely.

“We don’t know what those training sessions look like, but I think what you don’t understand as people on the outside is it’s more than just the training,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “It’s the bond that’s built outside of the training. How much time are these guys spending together to build a relationship once they are outside of the gym? This, to me, tells me that Pereira and Strickland are building a relationship that’s very strong. Why? Because we already know that Pereira has a fight on the books. Las Vegas. UFC 313.

“What we do know is that Alex Pereira is going to be fighting a guy who could be his most formidable opponent because of the style. But we also have to take into effect that his relationship with Strickland is so strong that he’s willing to travel across the world to corner him. To me, it seems dangerous. To me, it seems risky for Alex to go all the way to Australia knowing everything that goes into a training camp and how hard that travel can be on your body when you’re preparing to continue to defend your world championship. So how strong is that bond? How much does Sean Strickland now mean to Alex Pereira for him to take that risk? Because trust me, it is a risk.”

So far, whatever Pereira is doing has worked for him, as he’s become one of the UFC’s biggest stars after making his octagon debut in 2021. Pereira was a two-division champion in kickboxing and has accomplished the same feat in MMA, defeating longtime rival Israel Adesanya for the middleweight title at UFC 281 and then capturing light heavyweight gold with a win over Jiri Prochazka at UFC 295. He has successfully defended the 205-pound belt three straight times.

It’s his fourth challenger that has fans wondering if the Poatan era is about to come to an end. Ankalaev is unbeaten in 13 straight appearances and his mixture of striking and wrestling makes him the perfect foil for Pereira on paper. Cormier added in that all the travel Pereira is doing ahead of this title defense could make his next defense even more difficult.

“When you look at Ankalaev and you look at the way those guys have been going back and forth,” Cormier said. “When you look at the fighting style or the ability, it all boils down to this: Alex Pereira could beat up Ankalaev’s legs, as we saw Jan Blachowicz do, and him look like he could not stand. But Ankalaev has that ability to take him down and hold him down. He said he ain’t going to do that. To me, it would seem like a massive mistake to not do that, or to anyone in the world that watches fighting and knows what it takes to get a victory.

“It seems like Ankalaev should use that wrestling he showed in rounds 4 and 5 [against Blachowicz] to win those rounds against Alex Pereira. Hell, we saw Jan Blachowicz hold Alex Pereira down for a round and a half in what still is his most competitive fight since going up to 205. But to add to that the travel, different time zone, the sleep patterns and sleep schedule, it’s difficult. It’s difficult to add that. So to me, Sean Strickland must be one of Alex Pereira’s best friends because you don’t do that for just anything, anybody.”

Cormier is keeping in mind that even if Pereira’s pre-fight behavior seems unconventional, there is nothing about his run to the top that has been conventional in the slightest. Pereira won his first UFC title in his eighth pro MMA fight and his second in his 11th fight. Along the way, the Brazilian striker’s all-around game has frequently been questioned by critics, but he just keeps winning.

It’s Pereira’s inimitable career path that leaves Cormier feeling like he could pull off yet another memorable victory.

“Now one thing I won’t do is question Alex,” Cormier said. “I’m done. I won’t question whether or not he can wrestle, I won’t question any of that anymore, because he has proven it time and time again that whatever he’s doing is right and it’s allowed for him to become one of the greatest fighters of all time. Yes, he is one of the greatest fighters of all time in the shortest amount of time I have ever seen anyone building a legacy that is that strong or a résumé that is that strong, never seen it.

“I’ve never seen someone do what Pereira has done and he’s a free spirit and maybe that free spirit allows for him to be as good as he’s been. This dude’s the man and if he gets through this next challenge, if he gets through Ankalaev, I’m going on the record and saying that light heavyweight is going to have a Poatan problem for a really long time.”