Middleweights
#4 MW | Sean Strickland (25-3, 12-3 UFC) vs. Alex Pereira (5-1, 2-0 UFC)The UFC certainly is not wasting time with Pereira. Days shy of his 35th birthday, Pereira is one of the more interesting entrants to the UFC’s middleweight division in recent memory thanks to his decorated kickboxing career. Of particular note is a 2017 knockout of Israel Adesanya, which gives “Poatan” a built-in storyline for a fight with the current 185-pound kingpin. Once Pereira transitioned full-time into mixed martial arts in 2021, the UFC came calling shortly after. Through two UFC appearances, Pereira has certainly looked like a converted kickboxer. Opponents have been able to neutralize him, but Pereira has brought enough violence in other moments—including a brutal flying knee knockout of Andreas Michailidis—to come out the clear victor. After a March win over Bruno Silva, the UFC is throwing Pereira right into the mix against Strickland, who makes for an intriguing matchup on paper. Strickland made his UFC debut in 2014, and despite being in his early 20s, California’s “Tarzan” was already a seasoned vet that more or less hit the ground running, establishing himself as a patient and practiced fighter on the fringes of the welterweight rankings. After a 2018 motorcycle accident threatened his career, Strickland returned two years later as a bulked-up middleweight and launched himself into title contention. With some additional power and buoyed by even more confidence in his skills, Strickland is now firmly committed to bullying his opponents and marching them down, banking on a combination of his durability and vision to see him through whatever return fire heads his way. Despite Strickland’s repeated insistence that he wants to murder a man inside the Octagon, his lack of knockout power does make for some worryingly thin margins against the middleweight elite. Despite having most of his last fight with Jack Hermansson well in hand, “The Joker” somehow still earned one scorecard in a Strickland split decision win. Strickland’s upright stance does make this Pereira’s best chance at a statement win among the current contenders, as it is not hard to see the American marching right into getting blasted by a knockout blow. However, Strickland is an underrated wrestler and grappler who has been willing to lean on those skills from time to time, and he seems aware enough to follow the path of least resistance here, particularly since he historically has not been concerned about providing entertainment. The pick is Strickland via grinding decision.
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Adesanya vs. Cannonier
Volkanovski vs. Holloway
Strickland vs. Pereira
Lawler vs. Barberena
O’Malley vs. Munhoz
The Prelims