Eric Nicksick is hoping Sean Strickland can avoid a rematch with fellow UFC star Alex Pereira.
Strickland met Pereira in a middleweight fight in 2022 and suffered a brutal first-round knockout loss to the towering Brazilian.
Pereira, a former two-division Glory kickboxing champion, went on to win the UFC middleweight title and then the light heavyweight title, which he still holds.
Today, he is considered one of the most formidable knockout fighters in all of MMA, a reputation earned, in part, thanks to his knockout victory over Strickland.
Strickland still competes at middleweight, so a rematch with Pereira currently seems unlikely, but the Brazilian has recently expressed interest in moving down to middleweight, in which case a rematch between the two is entirely possible.
Nicksick, who is Strickland’s head trainer at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, hopes it doesn’t come to that.
“It’s a nightmare,” Nicksick said. Radio Submission“It’s a nightmare to relive all this again. Stay up there at 205 [pounds] dude, do your thing up there.
“We’re fine.”
The good news for Nicksick and Strickland is that Pereira is currently scheduled to defend his light heavyweight title against Khalil Rountree at UFC 307, and will most likely defend his title against top contender Magomed Ankalaev after that. That means a return to middleweight is unlikely at this point. Pereira has also teased a move up to heavyweight, which would seemingly rule out the 37-year-old dropping down to middleweight permanently.
Like Pereira, Strickland is a former middleweight champion. He won the title with an upset decision win over Israel Adesanya last year but lost it in his first defense, suffering a controversial decision loss to Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 297 in January.
Strickland has since bounced back with a decision win over Paulo Costa, and should now be next in line to get a chance at Du Plessis.
