I. Adesanya and A. Poatan carry on their rivalry from their kickboxing days (Photo: Montage/SUPER FIGHTS)
Just over a week after defending the middleweight belt (up to 83,9 kg) for the fifth time against Jared Cannonier, UFC 276, Israel adesanya has already planned his next fight. As was already predicted, the next challenger for the Nigerian's belt should really be the Brazilian Alex Poatán, who knocked out Sean Strickland also on the night of July 2nd.
In an interview published on his own channel “Freestylebender”, on YouTube, Israel adesanya confirmed the desire to face Alex Poatán and revealed that the duel is already underway, including a set date.
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"Yes it is Alex Poatán who I want to face). We have a date. We've already resolved this. We are already planning and everything is resolved”, revealed the middleweight champion.
If confirmed, the title fight between Israel adesanya e Alex Poatán marks the trilogy between athletes in martial arts. The two faced each other on two occasions during their kickboxing days, with two victories for the Brazilian, the last one by knockout, the only one suffered by the Nigerian to date. More than six years later, the champion guarantees that the setback does not torment him.
“I literally let it go. It didn't take me long to understand what had happened. In fact, right after the fight I said I was fine. People still love me, my family still loves me. The worst thing in the world that can happen to a fighter, it had never happened to me, it finally happened. I thought, 'Oh, the worst thing in the world…okay. Let's keep moving forward'. And look where I got to”, he concluded.
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