Sean Strickland doesn’t like to take it easy in sparring, and his recent meeting with one of middleweight’s most explosive fighters was no different.
The former middleweight champion returns to action on February 21 next year against Anthony ‘Fluffy’ Hernandez in his first effort to get back into title contention. He is leaving no stone unturned, taking on Michel Pereira in a sparring session that he branded ‘a fight’ in a new video.
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Strickland is infamous for sparring incredibly hard, sometimes even against beginners. But it remains to be seen if he will show up with intentions of a war against Hernandez as he is equally infamous for a fight style that isn’t exciting.
- Who is Sean Strickland? Get to know controversial former UFC middleweight champion
Sean Strickland shows off hard sparring with Michel Pereira
In a new video posted to Instagram, Sean Strickland showed the final moments of a sparring session between him and the showboating middleweight contender Michel Pereira. It appears to have been an intense one, with the American making a number of comments after the fact.
“Brazilians will die for nothing dude,” he giggled before showing some footage from the intensive sparring session. “The Brazilians, you guys have no idea. You could put a cheeto in the ring and they will die for that Cheeto. I mean, I respect these f—ers a lot.”
When the woman filming noted that “everyone is trying to kill you today,” Strickland laughed it off and replied that he “needs it”. In the brief piece of video, the former champion can be seen slipping shots and landing big punches and knees of his own.
Strickland captioned the video: “It wouldn’t be Tuesday if a Brazilian wasn’t trying to shorten my life….. Feb 21st.|”
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