Former UFC champion attacks Brazilians, but spares Alex Poatan

“The UFC goes and finds these shitty people in third world countries. We don’t accept you! We accept Alex Pereira because he’s American, maybe too much so. We accept him because he’s the American dream”he released.

Strickland was knocked out by Poatan in 2022, in the first round of the fight, but the two ended up becoming friends after some time, when the Tupiniquim had already become middleweight champion. Currently, Pereira is one of the biggest names in Ultimate and is looking for a third belt in a different category.

The North American has also been defeated in the UFC by other fighters from developing countries: Argentine Santiago Ponzinibbio, Brazilian Elizeu dos Santos, Nigerian Kamaru Usman, and South African Dricus Du Plessis, to whom he lost the belt — twice.

Chimaev x Strickland

Sean Strickland will try to return to the top of the middleweight category on the 9th, when he will face champion Khamzat Chimaev, who will make his first title defense since dethroning Du Plessis.

The North American, however, is an absolute underdog compared to the Emirati at the betting shops; Strickland hasn’t won a title fight since September 2023. He even threatened to shoot his opponent in the event of a physical fight before the fight.

“All I’m going to do is pull out my gun. If you approach me with three Chechens who f*** goats and don’t speak English, I’ll draw my gun and I’ll shoot each one of you,” he said, in a press conference promoted by the UFC itself.