Excited about Alex Poatan in the UFC, Glover Teixeira says: 'Adesanya will be scared'

G. Teixeira (left) has been helping A. Poatan (right) in his transition to MMA. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram

The signing of the former double GLORY champion, Alex Poatán, for the UFC affected the spirits of an icon of the organization. Challenger for the light heavyweight belt (up to 93kg.), Glover Teixeira He couldn't hide his excitement about his training partner's presence in the company and took the opportunity to 'poke' Israel adesanya, victim of the Brazilian in kickboxing.

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“'Daddy' is in the UFC. Adesanya doesn't want to talk about it. This guy (Alex) is just arriving, but he knows it's a tough opponent for him. No one is more of a problem for Adesanya at middleweight (up to 83,9kg.) than him. I'm not saying that he (Poatan) will win, it's another fight, another moment, style, but Adesanya must be praying: 'for the love of God, put someone as Phil Davis against this guy,” said Glover, in an interview with 'French Exchange’, podcast linked to 'MMA fighting'.

Training partner and one of those responsible for helping Alex adapt from kickboxing to MMA, Teixeira tried to praise the qualities of his 'pupil'. For the Minas Gerais native, Poatan will bring difficulties to potential rivals, if he manages to translate his main weapons from his GLORY days into Ultimate.

“It hits your right rib and the left one hurts. Adesanya is no match for him. Firstly, he's going to be scared as hell. Pereira knocked him out with a 10-ounce glove. With four ounces, then. Adesanya doesn't have the knockout power that Poatan has. Don't get me wrong. Adesanya is incredible, but he doesn't hit like him. Israel is a normal guy, Alex is not,” he said.

Finally, Glover suggested that one path to Israel's victory would be to act on the ground. The Brazilian, however, stated that the qualities of the middleweight champion's takedowns will not be enough to frustrate Poatan.

“Adesanya doesn’t have a ground game, at least from what I saw in his last fight,” said Teixeira, referring to the Nigerian’s clash against Jan Blachowicz in the light heavyweight title superfight. “He doesn’t have the wrestling to take Poatan down. In fact, I think Alex is better than him”, he concluded.

Announced by the UFC at the beginning of September, Poatan already has a commitment in the organization. On November 6, the Brazilian faces Andreas Michailidis, UFC 268.