Watch new footage of Alex Pereira, Sean Strickland in intense sparring ahead of UFC 307

Past opponents Alex Pereira and Sean Strickland have reunited once again ahead of Pereira’s next title defense in new sparring footage.

Pereira is set to defend the UFC light heavyweight title against Khalil Rountree this Saturday in the main event of UFC 307 in Salt Lake City. The two former middleweight champions met up in the host city for the pay-per-view card to engage in a hard five-minute round just days before the card.

Check out the sparring session in the video above.

Pereira and Strickland met in a pivotal 185-pound clash at UFC 276 in July 2022, where “Poatan” earned his first championship opportunity with a vicious first-round knockout victory. Pereira went on to capture the title in his next fight over Israel Adesanya at UFC 281 four months later, before dropping the belt back to Adesanya at UFC 287 the following April in Pereira’s final middleweight bout.

Strickland would dethrone Adesanya five months after that in a stunning upset at UFC 293.