Dricus Du Plessis doubts Alex Pereira will be of any help for Sean Strickland at UFC 312.
Light heavyweight champion Pereira will be in Strickland’s (29-6 MMA, 16-6 UFC) corner when he challenges middleweight champion Du Plessis (22-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) in the Feb. 8 main event at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN2, ESPN+).
Du Plessis had a witty reaction when asked about Pereira flying to Australia to assist Strickland.
“He was in the corner in the first fight, too,” Du Plessis told CBS Sports. “I mean, they don’t even speak the same language. It doesn’t really make it much of a difference. Strickland could barely understand his own coach, who’s also American – how is he going to understand Alex Pereira?”
Du Plessis edged out Strickland by split decision in their first title fight at UFC 297. He expects the pace to pick up a lot faster in their rematch.
“The feeling-out process was done,” Du Plessis said. “I think that’s going to make a big difference, being able to push the fight early on knowing that I have the five-round, full speed in me. I showed that in the first fight. In my last fight with (Israel) Adesanya, I showed in that fourth round I still have that finishing ability, and I still felt relatively good. It was the second half of the fourth with Adesanya as well. The pace in that fight was something crazy, so it was great. I know I can do it, and I’m not fighting for my first time for a world title – so it’s different.”
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