“Alex Is the American Dream” – Sean Strickland Breaks Character for Rival-Turned-Friend Alex Pereira in Unexpected Confession

Sean Strickland and Alex Pereira‘s friendship is perhaps the most unlikely but heart-warming in the entire sport. After all, ‘Tarzan’ can best be described as a jingoistic red-neck, while ‘Poatan’, who traces his ancestry to an Indigenous Brazilian tribe, comes from the famous favelas of Rio de Janeiro.

Not to mention, it was Pereira who knocked Strickland out cold in their UFC 276 clash three years ago. And to make things even more ironic, they can’t even understand each other’s language. Yet, that devastating loss was the catalyst for their unexpected friendship. Realizing he needed to evolve, Strickland sought out Pereira’s expertise, training alongside ‘Poatan’ to sharpen his striking. That decision paid off in a big way, as Strickland eventually went on to win the middleweight title.

But his respect for Pereira goes beyond just his fighting skills—it’s clear that he holds the Brazilian in high regard as both a mentor and a friend. “We don’t even speak the same language, you know. He doesn’t speak English. I mean you got to have respect for Alex. Like, dude, where did that f—ing man come from? A f—ing tire shop, dude,” Strickland said.

Like he came from literally nothing and has made a life for himself. As an American, you know, Alex is the American Dream. [He] likes guns, you know. So as an American, you have to have respect for some of that kind of drive and dedication,” he added in a recent interview with ‘MMA Junkie’.

Alex Pereira, of course, famously used to work at a tire shop and was almost an alc—lic. It was to get over his substance ab–e problems that ‘Poatan’ trained in kickboxing. Pretty soon, he started competing- first as an amateur boxer, followed by kickboxing, and finally transitioning to mixed martial arts.

Today the Brazilian is the biggest active star in the promotion and has become the global face of the entire sport. Strickland is right- how can you not respect that? And just how close friends they have become will be once again clear to everyone next week.

Alex Pereira will be in Sean Strickland’s corner for UFC 312

Sean Strickland is going into the biggest, potentially legacy-defining fight of his career at UFC 312 next week. After all, the American is set to rematch Dricus Du Plessis after the duo initially battled it out at UFC 297 last year. Strickland had shockingly defeated Israel Adesanya in 2023 to become the middleweight champ, only to lose his belt to ‘DDP’ in their January 2024 clash.

Since their fight was incredibly close, and the South African won a razor-close split decision, this fight has been a long time coming. And in Strickland’s corner for the UFC 312 title clash will be none other than Alex Pereira. This is a bit hard to understand. After all, as Strickland pointed out, ‘Poatan’ doesn’t speak English, while Strickland doesn’t speak any Portuguese, which is Pereira’s mother tongue.

More than anything else, it seems that the Brazilian will be there for moral support. But then again, this just goes to show how close the two men are and how much respect they have for each other. What do you think about Sean Strickland’s comments about Alex Pereira’s rags-to-riches story?