Alex Pereira, preparing for his UFC 307 title defense against Khalil Rountree, has enlisted former opponent Sean Strickland in his camp and moved training to Salt Lake City to acclimate to the altitude.
Alex Pereira will have ex-opponent Sean Strickland in his camp for his UFC 307 title defense versus Khalil Rountree. He revealed this on Sunday via his YouTube channel.
“Poatan,” who knocked out Strickland back in 2022, earned a shot at the middleweight belt before later becoming friends with the Las Vegas-based fighter. Pereira moved his camp to the altitude of Salt Lake City to prepare for UFC 307, which takes place in Utah’s capital on Oct. 5.
“The thing about the altitude is that it’s hard [to train],” Pereira said. “We did this once when I fought [Jan] Blachowicz. We did it for two weeks then, and three weeks now. I think it’s going to be much better.”
Pereira defeated Blachowicz via decision in his first light heavyweight bout inside the octagon, also at SLC’s Vivint Arena. Now, he returns as the 205-pound champion to face Rountree, who earned a shot at gold following five straight wins, including four knockouts.
“We have a great team here,” said Pereira, who usually trains at Glover Teixeira’s team in Danbury, Conn. “We have Glover, Plinio [Cruz], Yousri [Belgaroui], ‘Cesinha’ [Cesar Almeida]. Sean Strickland is also coming next week to train with us here. I’m very happy with this preparation.”
Pereira vs. Rountree serves as the main event for UFC 307. Bantamweight champion Raquel Pennington will defend her throne against Julianna Peña in the co-main event slot.
Meanwhile, Strickland is campaigning for a rematch with UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis next. However, the company has yet to make an announcement on who will get the shot at 185 pounds.