The UFC surprised many people when they booked Sean Strickland vs Alex Pereira. The Brazilian is famous for knocking out Israel Adesanya in kickboxing and he's hoping to get his rematch in MMA.

The Brazilian kickboxer has been using the Israel Adesanya knockout to help get people excited about his career in the UFC. Sean Strickland will provide a good challenge to help determine how good Alex Pereira is.

“The fucking guy knocked out Izzy. The guy’s a fucking savage,” UFC middleweight Strickland said in an interview with Helen Yee. “I actually kind of enjoy, and I’ll tell you why. (Paulo) Costa, to me, is an easy paycheck. All my last fights, all great men, all solid fucking dudes. But walking into those fights, you’re kind of just like, ‘I’m better than you, I’m better than you, I’m better than you.’

“With Alex, it’s kind of like this scary thing. It kind of gets me excited. You see him, you’re like, ‘Oh man, you’re a big, scary-looking kickboxer, I want to fight you.’ So I do like the fact that he does have that unknown factor – new blood.”

Sean Strickland believes the winner of this fight deserves the next UFC title shot against Israel Adesanya. Marvin Vettori and Robert Whittaker are around but both have lost multiple times to the champion.

“Whittaker and Marvin – and again, I love Marvin; he’s a savage – but Whittaker and Marvin, they had their shot. The winner of me and Alex should get the title (shot), absolutely. I think everybody wants that.”