Minotauro remembers when he 'discovered' Poatan for the UFC and points to Brazilians as successors in the middleweight division

Getting eyes on a great talent can often not be as easy as expected. In an exclusive interview with the SUPER FIGHTS no 'YouTube’, Rodrigo Minotauro recalled when he 'discovered' the middleweight champion (up to 83,9kg.) Alex Poatán, who was still featured in GLORY and was just thinking about making the transition to MMA.

Minotauro was in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, to record the UFC's own documentary 'Living to Fight', when he met Poatan for the first time. The heavyweight legend (up to 120,2 kg.) admits that he didn't know him, but he saw an amazing quality in his first impression.

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“I had the chance to meet Poatan during the recording of the program 'Viver para Lutar', in Amsterdam. When I went to do the kickboxing part, I met some people. One of the GLORY directors said: 'Aren't you going to talk to Poatan?' and I didn't know him. I had never seen him fight. I went to see him beat the gauntlet and called some friends in Brazil who said he was a phenomenon,” he said. Rodrigo Minotauro.

Minotauro has a big part in the current success of Alex Poatán, who holds the UFC middleweight belt (up to 83,9 kg.). The organization's commentator stated that he even commented to the president, Dana White, that the Brazilian would be able to beat Israel adesanya in striking, right after the Nigerian's victory over Paulo borrachinha for the title, in a fight that took place in the edition number.

“He touched me and said: 'I want to fight MMA. I want to fight in the UFC.” He went to visit the UFC office a few months later, I introduced him to Jorge Guimarães and Ed Soares. We made this connection and later he met the Anderson Silva. He fought in the LFA. One day, I was in Abu Dhabi when Adesanya beat Borrachinha and Dana said: 'No one can beat this guy in striking'. And I, in the middle of the conversation, said: 'I have the guy. I have someone'. Poatan's name came up and people started following him until he joined the organization”, recalled the Brazilian legend.

Natural successors

Caio Borralho e André Sergipano There are two Brazilian promises in the middleweight division. Photo: SUPER FIGHTS montage

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Category that had Anderson Silva as a big name for a decade, the middleweights (up to 83,9kg.) once again had a Brazilian representative at the top with Alex Poatán, but anyone who thinks that the 'fountain could dry up' after the champion's possible rise to light heavyweight (up to 93kg.) is mistaken. For Rodrigo, Caio Borralho e André Sergipano They also have the quality to occupy a prominent place.

“It’s a very important category. We had Anderson (Silva), Vitor belfort. There was a passing from Lyoto (Machida) and we are with Caio Borralho, Poatan – who is the owner of the category at the moment -, Andre Muniz, (Bruno) Armored. It's a traditional category. As Poatan leaves, who could move up in a few years, we have Borralho who is a little younger and could be a great successor in the category. There’s Muniz, too,” he concluded.