Alex Pereira Shows Why His Power Is Different With Huge KO Of Sean Strickland
Pereira beat Sean Strickland after a huge left hook in the first round of their UFC 276 fight, and Israel Adesanya could be next
Brazilian Alex Pereira continued his impressive start to life in UFC with a huge knockout stoppage of Sean Strickland in the first round, at UFC 276.
Pereira was making just his third appearance inside the UFC octagon but the middleweight's reputation is already off the charts thanks to his impressive power.
It took him just over two and a half minutes to show that power once again, landing a left hook to knock Strickland to the ground, before a right knocked him down again and the referee stepped in to call off the fight.
Pereira hadn't needed a single fight in UFC to already have a huge reputation as someone to be feared in the 185 lb division, because he's the only man to have stopped champion Israel Adesanya.
It happened when the pair were both kickboxers back in 2017, with the Nigerian born New Zealander going onto reach huge heights in MMA since, with Pereira actually winning both their meetings.
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The one man to knock out Izzy, followed the champ into UFC back in November last year, defeating Andreas Michailidis with a second round knockout.
He followed that up with a unanimous decision win over fellow countryman Bruno Silva, in March this year, but Strickland was a big step up in opponent.
The 31-year-old was fourth in the UFC rankings, having won his previous six fights, and might have been eyeing up a future title shot against Adesanya.
The champion is set to make the fifth defence of his middleweight title when he takes on Jared Cannonier later on Saturday night, in Las Vegas.
If the last Stylebender is successful against Cannonier then his next opponent could be against the only man to have ever stopped him, although he does still want to fight Darren Till.
Adesanya has only lost one fight since making his debut in MMA, back in March 2012, and that was against Jan Blachowicz at light heavyweight.
Would he be able to continue that winning form at his usual weight against a man who has beaten him twice?
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Ryan Sidle