“He Won’t Be A Champion For Long.”

UFC middleweight Sean Strickland recently spoke in an interview with Helen Yee and discussed the forecast for the newest UFC world champion. The US-born Strickland discussed a former opponent of his; Alex Pereira.

‘Poatan’ Alex Pereira knocked out Strickland earlier this year. With a title shot at UFC 281, he knocked out then-champion Israel Adesanya to capture the UFC middleweight throne. Strickland doubts Brazil’s Pereira will be able to hold on to the title for long.

Sean Strickland talks about UFC champion Alex Pereira

While speaking with MMA journalist Helen Yee, Strickland began:

“Dude you knocked me out. Hats off to you. Big scary Brazilian … If I went out there and hadn’t been a prideful f*ck and just wrestled, could I have probably won? Probably yes.”

Looking at some of the other contenders in the competitive middleweight division, Strickland continues:

“A [Robert] Whittaker or even a Marvin [Vettori], anyone who just goes in there and tries to f*ckin’ wrestle will win. He won’t be a champion for long. But he’s a f*ckin’ savage.”

Even in a rematch against ‘The Last Stylebender’ Israel Adesanya, Strickland would not count on ‘Poatan.’ He explained:

“I thought Izzy, being a long, lanky mother f*cker, who likes to run around and dance around was going to win. I think there’s a good chance Izzy wins the next fight. But, you know, I don’t think Izzy should get the shot.”

The American athlete went on to explain that if Robert Whittaker is able to win his upcoming match against Paulo Costa, he would be the most deserving of a title shot against the Brazilian world champion Alex Pereira.

See the full interview with Sean Strickland below: