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Sean Strickland didn't have the best night against Alex Pereira. Strickland was knocked out. At the end of the match, Strickland had something to say. At the very start, he expected that he would quickly solve that match, given that he understood his opponent's way of fighting.
However, Pereira caught him off guard and quickly finished the match. “You never want to be someone’s highlight, but that’s the game we play,” Strickland said in a video posted on Instagram, as quoted by mmajunkie.
“I tried to stand and bang with one of the best kickboxers. The sh*tty part about it was that during the round, I was like, ‘Man, this is going to be an easy fight. I see everything this guy is throwing. I’m getting the better of the exchanges.
I’m going to beat this guy up for three rounds.’ And then halfway through, I got caught." Sean is sad because of this defeat, especially because he had higher expectations of himself. Still, it's the UFC, sometimes you lose, sometimes you win.
Sean will now go on a short break and prepare for the next match that awaits him. “So hat’s off to Alex, he’s a f*cking killer. Thank (you) all my coaches, sorry I didn’t get the win. It’s depressing, I’m going to be sad for a while.
And fans, thank you for supporting me and on to the next one. It’s time to climb the ladder again”.
Alex Pereira on Sean Strickland
Although Sean Strickland had interesting statements before the match, Pereira doesn't blame him and is happy for the opportunity he got.
“I don’t care whatever he says in the pre-fight interviews, I don’t take nothing personal,” Pereira said about Strickland. “I want to thank him for fighting me. We had a strong strategy. Took some time in there for the knockout”.
After the match, Pereira wished Israel Adesanya to win (which happened), because his next goal is a title shot. We will see what will happen. It would certainly be an interesting match, considering that Pereira already defeated Adesanya earlier, albeit in kick boxing.
“Many people talk about my two wins over Israel Adesanya but say they’re in kickboxing,” Pereira said. “I just beat the No. 4 [fighter] in the rankings so I know I earned that [title shot]. Let’s cheer for Adesanya tonight”. Things are much more interesting now, and Adesanya could have a tough task against Pereira.