Poatan was defeated by Ankalaev in the UFC 313. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram/UFC
Heading towards his first title defense in UFC 320, Magomed Ankalayev, like other fighters, also went through problems before his great achievement over Alex Poatán in the first duel for the division's throne. On that occasion, the fighter won by unanimous decision, but ended up being negatively marked for not being successful in achieving takedowns against the then champion.
In addition to the Brazilian having already declared that he was not 100%, Ankalaev admitted that he had also been a victim of injuries and ended up spacing out something in his speech that may have further hindered his performance: Poatan with body lubrication on UFC 313. Despite the statement, the Russian avoided treating the matter as an accusation.
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"To be honest, I went through a lot when I was fighting for the title. That training camp was terrible, I couldn't fight for most of it, I was battling a lot of injuries, and there were a lot of reasons for that. Plus, I told my coach right away during the rounds that I felt he was too lubricated. He was very slippery. These things happen in professional sports, I'm not accusing him of anything, but that's what I felt. I train every day, you can feel when people are slippery. He was very slippery. So, I felt he was very lubricated, and that also played a role," Ankalaev said during a press conference in Las Vegas.
Alex Poatán is defeated by Magomed Ankalayev No. UFC 313. Photo: Reproduction/Twitter/UFC News
Protagonists of UFC 320 this Saturday (04th), Magomed Ankalayev and Poatan will have the opportunity to settle their differences again in the octagon. Victorious in the first fight, the Russian is considered the heavy favorite for the matchup and promises to knock out the Brazilian in the fourth round this time.
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