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UFC 276 was an important night for the Middleweight division. Israel Adesanya and Jared Cannonier squared off for the 185-pound title, a bout that “Stylebender” won without too much fanfare. Just two fights earlier on the main card, Alex Pereira knocked out Sean Strickland in the very first round, setting off a significant wave of consequences.
As a result of the victory, “Poatan” secured a title shot, setting up his pair of legendary MMA fights opposite Adesanya. Strickland, meanwhile, fell out of the immediate title picture and is still working his way back up to a title shot. It was, quite simply, a pivotal moment in the careers of both men.
Since the fight, both men have been respectful. Strickland revealed his intentions of working towards a rematch, but since Pereira is heading to Light Heavyweight, that’s no longer a pressing issue. Perhaps that’s part of the reason the two have ended up up training together?
In the sparring video above, Pereira and Strickland are going live in a controlled fashion. It’s interesting to watch the two adjust from their fight. Strickland works to keep his right hand glued to his chin, but he’s still baited into parrying away the jab, and Pereira also works to create openings with his right uppercut. Still, Strickland lands some rights of his own and holds his own against the larger man in their respectful training session.
Up next for Strickland is a showdown with relative newcomer Abusupiyan Magomedov on July 1 at UFC Vegas 76. Pereira, meanwhile, may once again be fighting to score a title shot when he takes on Jan Blachowicz at UFC 291 later in July. Will their training sessions together benefit them in these future fights?
Insomnia
Renato “Money” Moicano made me laugh out loud.
A collision of unranked-but-violent Light Heavyweight prospects!
Is Jon Jones the fighter to punk? A bold choice.
A cool thread of legendary MMA fighters showing respect to Khabib:
Jim Miller absolutely deserves the fan art/animation love!
Craig Jones’ jiu-jitsu is absolutely top-notch, and his influence on the City Kickboxing crew has been clear.
Craig Jones and his butterfly sweep or sumi gaeshi. If you pressure his butterfly half guard you’ll get swept. If you don’t, he’ll get head height and sweep you anyway. pic.twitter.com/yXN2dr4oIh
— Josie Aldo (@MMAWretch) June 13, 2023
Slips, rips, and KO clips
I was so genuinely floored the night of Jiri Prochazka vs. Glover Teixeira. It’s a perfectly imperfect fight. I stand by it as potentially the best MMA fight ever. I love it.
This was the fight I really realized that Charles Oliveira had turned a corner.
Spinning elbows don’t come much cleaner.
Random Land
RIP to one of the greats.
Midnight Music: Rock, 1970
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
