Daniel Cormier advises Alex Pereira against cornering Sean Strickland at UFC 312.
Eric Nicksick revealed that light heavyweight champion Pereira will corner Strickland (29-6 MMA, 16-6 UFC) in his title-fight rematch against middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis (22-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC), which headlines the Feb. 8 card at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN2, ESPN+).
When he corners Strickland, Pereira will be less than a month out from his title defense against Magomed Ankalaev in the UFC 313 headliner on March 8 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Cormier thinks traveling half way across the world to Sydney will likely have a negative impact on “Poatan.”
“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 Alex 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 what we also have to take into effect is that Pereira feels 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 guys: It is a risk.”
If Ankalaev chooses to use his wrestling, Cormier can see him posing serious problems for Pereira. However, after everything “Poatan” has achieved, Cormier will no longer undermine him or question his decisions.
“To add to that the travel, different time zone, the sleep patterns and sleep schedule, it’s difficult,” Cormier said. “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. Now one thing I won’t do is question Alex. 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 is 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 resume 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.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 312.
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