Sean Strickland opens as betting underdog for UFC 277 clash with Alex Pereira

Sean Strickland has opened as a slight betting underdog for his UFC 277 showdown with Alex Pereira, as per Best Fight Odds.

It was reported a few days ago that the UFC is planning to put together one of the most fascinating middleweight contests of the year thus far. The fight will see Sean Strickland, an established member of the division’s elite, going head to head with rising prospect and kickboxing legend Alex Pereira.

Strickland is best known by many for his exploits out of the cage but folks shouldn’t ignore the six-fight win streak he’s been able to quietly string together. Pereira, meanwhile, is just 5-1 in his mixed martial arts career and 2-0 in the UFC.

The aforementioned odds, though, indicate that the Brazilian is the one to watch heading into this bout.

Super interesting matchup in the works for UFC 277 on July 30 … Sean Strickland vs. Alex Pereira is verbally agreed to, per sources. Has the look of an all action fight on the feet. No official location for this card yet. pic.twitter.com/jBK8Kylayf

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) March 26, 2022

Pereira is seen as the -175 favourite with Strickland being the +150 underdog. We all know these lines are made by bookmakers with the knowledge that they’re going to shift fairly dramatically as we get closer to fight night, but this is still an interesting look into the current landscape at 185 pounds.

Sean Strickland is exactly the kind of fighter who would thrive off of stealing the shine of Pereira. After all, a win like this would almost certainly set up a fight between himself and reigning middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.

Of course, Adesanya is the entire reason this fight has been booked.

“The Last Stylebender” lost twice to Pereira during their kickboxing days and “Poatan” is clearly pretty confident that he can replicate such success all over again in the MMA world.

Alas, he first needs to push past Strickland at UFC 277 on July 30.

Who do you believe should be the favourite heading into Sean Strickland vs Alex Pereira? Will the winner get a shot at Israel Adesanya later this year?