A. Poatan faces B. Blindado in March 2022. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram
The victory of Israel adesanya about Robert whittaker in the rematch held last Saturday (12), at UFC 271, established the Nigerian as one of the greatest fighters in middleweight history (up to 83,9 kg). With four belt defenses, “Izzy” has the North American confirmed as his next challenge in Ultimate Jared Cannonier, third place in the ranking.
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In the opinion of Anthony Smith, former challenger for the light heavyweight belt (up to 93 kg), the main candidate to dethrone Israel adesanya in middleweight he is not even in the division rankings: the Brazilian Alex Poatán.
“I think the guy who probably has the best chance is in the UFC, but he’s not ranked. I think it's Alex Pereira. The guy is good. The problem with Alex is that he will have a difficult road to get to Israel. The division has some high-level wrestlers, some good jiu-jitsu guys, so I think the hardest part is getting to him. I don't even take much into consideration the fact that he already knocked out Israel in another organization and in another sport. He's a guy who can take on Israel at their exact game. He plays the same game, fights in a very similar way, is very comfortable. He keeps the fight slow, but explodes when he needs to. He has the strength and shooting ability, which is really important when it comes to Israel adesanya. That's why Jan Blachowicz was so successful,” analyzed Smith.
Alex Poatán e Israel adesanya They faced each other twice during their kickboxing days, with the Brazilian winning twice. In the UFC, Poatan is still at the beginning of his career, with just one appearance in the octagon, in the knockout victory over Andreas Michailidis No. UFC 268.
Alex Poatán returns to action on March 12th, when he faces Bruno Blindado in a Brazilian duel that promises to be explosive.
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