Alex Poatan opens up and talks about the reasons for his defeat to Israel Adesanya in the UFC

Alex Poatán was knocked out by Israel adesanya No. UFC 287 (Photo: Instagram/UFC)

Alex Poatán opened up about the behind-the-scenes story of his first defeat to Israel adesanya, which took place in April 2023, for the middleweight belt (up to 83,9 kg). In an interview with the podcast 'Podpah', the Brazilian detailed the challenges faced to reach the division limit and how the weight cutting process directly impacted his performance in the fight that made him lose the belt.

After the fight, Poatan managed to reinvent himself. The São Paulo native moved up to light heavyweight (up to 93kg) and is the current champion, with the right to three title defenses, all of them in 2024.

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“My normal weight is 102kg. At that time, I was on a better diet, I was eating well and I would arrive at the fight week weighing 94kg. I would lose 10kg and, the next day, I would start fighting. Usually, you think: ‘the guy is going to get really tired’, but no; I felt fine. However, the absorption of the blows makes you weaker, and that’s what happened in the fight against Adesanya. If you see me today, with a stronger face, I take a beating and nothing happens”, explained Poatan.

The Brazilian admitted that he had already noticed the fatigue in previous fights and recognized that this fatigue could affect his performance. However, even aware of the risks, he decided to take the risk to defend the middleweight title against his rival.

“I spent my whole life coming down to this category, middleweight, so you start to wear yourself out. You lose weight, you gain it back. You lose weight, you gain it back, and you end up a little weaker. I think I reached my limit and I tried to risk it. I had felt that in some fights before,” said the light heavyweight champion.

Rivalry between Poatan x Adesanya

The rivalry between Adesanya and Poatan is marked by four combat sports clashes. In kickboxing, the Brazilian beat the Nigerian twice.

In MMA, Alex Pereira knocked out the Nigerian in the fifth round to win the middleweight title (up to 83,9 kg.) However, in the rematch in April 2023, 'Izzy' got revenge and beat Poatan for the first time in his career, also by knockout, in the second round.