UFC 312: Du Plessis Beats Strickland; Pereira Joins Corner
Alex Pereira cornered Sean Strickland in the UFC 312 rematch. Dricus du Plessis won by unanimous decision to retain the middleweight title. Strickland’s head coach, Eric Nicksick, announced Pereira’s role in the embedded interview with The Schmo. Pereira had knocked Strickland out at UFC 276 in 2022 before the two later became training partners.
A rematch with a different result
Du Plessis first took the middleweight title from Strickland by split decision at UFC 297 in January 2024. In their UFC 312 rematch, Du Plessis won by unanimous decision and retained the belt. The official UFC event recap records the result.
Pereira’s presence made for an unusual corner pairing because he had once stopped Strickland himself. But his role as a former opponent and later training partner did not change the outcome: Du Plessis won the rematch, and Strickland left Sydney without reclaiming the championship.
The original MMA USA preview treated Pereira’s striking advice and Strickland’s proposed game plan as likely advantages. Those were pre-fight possibilities, not confirmed reasons for the result. The fight settled the title question in Du Plessis’ favor.
