VIDEO: Poatan analyzes fight with Strickland and questions Adesanya's interest in facing him

Brazilian hope in the middleweight division (up to 83,9kg.), Alex Poatán remains in evidence in Ultimate. With just two victories, the Brazilian qualified for a confrontation against Sean Strikland, which is scheduled to take place in UFC 277, on July 30th.

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In an exclusive interview to SUPER FIGHTS, Poatan recognized Strickland's quality, but says that the opponent's gaps fit into his game. The kickboxing legend, however, declared that 'anything can happen' in combat.

“He's a tough guy, he's had six consecutive victories and he has experience. But I see a lot of mistakes and loopholes that fit perfectly into my game. (…) a fight is a fight and I have a lot of things to think about. He is an athlete who helps me to have a great performance and be able to have a great fight. Anything can happen, I prefer to work with the hypothesis of winning and losing, but I see a lot of flaws in his game. He's a tough guy, but I like to go further. I try to understand his mind and what I can do to win,” said Poatan.

Sharp aim

Before closing a duel against Strickland, still in a post-victory interview about Blindado, Poatan asked for a fight against Jared Cannonier. However, the 'Killa Gorilla', he should be next for the belt and he didn't even respond to the Brazilian's call. Asked about the matter, the kickboxing legend states that he knows what he is doing and has no regrets about the challenge.

“When I did that challenge (to Jared Cannonier) after my fight, many people criticized it and others didn't understand. But we know what we're doing. I'm very well oriented and I wasn't scared at the time of calling out a guy who's close to fighting for the belt. I thought I did the right thing and showed that I'm not talking nonsense. They put me against fourth in the ranking”, highlighted the Brazilian.

And Adesanya?

Willing to have a third chapter against Israel adesanya, this time for the UFC middleweight belt (up to 83,9 kg.), Poatan opened the door for the fight, but, at the same time, questioned his rival's interest in facing him. Still in kickboxing, the two fighters faced each other, with two victories for the Brazilian.

“It doesn’t depend on me, but on Adesanya. Strickland is fourth (in the rankings), but he is not the next challenger. But we have a story. It will depend a lot on Adesanya. We are seeing that the UFC is interested in doing this. And I'm interested in being champion. But would Adesanya be interested in fighting me?”, he provoked.

Here, give it here!

Alex Poatán also took the opportunity to respond to the criticism he has received from some of the press for his rapid rise in Ultimate. The fighter vented about MMA experts who discuss his quality and do not understand his success story before switching to martial arts.

“People forget what I did outside of the UFC. I was champion of two categories (at GLORY, the main kickboxing event in the world). Many MMA fighters were Olympic champions in another sport and carry that with them. Why don't I? I think that counts for a lot, in addition to the victories I have against the UFC champion”, before completing.

“There are two fights with two beautiful victories. Many people spoke of Greek (Andreas Michailidis), that he was good. I imposed my game, I did what I did and the same people change their testimony. And now they say: 'Alex hasn't been tested yet'. They talked about Bruno (Armored), but they always want to justify that I haven't been tested yet. If I get a good guy and don't let him do anything, will they take away my merits? I trained for that,” he concluded.

History of Poatan

Despite not yet being ranked in the middleweight division (up to 83,9kg), Poatan showed that he has good morale in Ultimate, after a devastating start. The Brazilian – who was a double kickboxing champion at GLORY – beat Andreas Michailidis e Bruno Blindado in his two fights in the organization. He has a record of six wins and one loss in professional MMA.