Responsible for improving the grappling part of Magomed Ankalayev when the Russian travels to Las Vegas (USA), the Brazilian Ronny Markes since the first fight against Alex Poatán, already expressed confidence in the Russian's triumph. Despite recognizing and praising his compatriot's great skill, the veteran believes his protégé possesses unique qualities that ultimately hinder his rival.
In an exclusive interview to SUPER FIGHTSRonny spoke about the rematch scheduled for this Saturday (04) in UFC 320 He also gave his opinion on the athletes' first meeting, held in March of this year, in UFC 313In the coach's view, Ankalaev's advantage in the stand-up fight over Poatan was not surprising.
Marcelo Nunes (left) and Ronny Markes (right) train M. Ankalaev at the Porrada Training Center. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram
"When it comes to striking, there's no way to classify Poatan as one of the best of all time in the UFC and Glory due to his achievements. But I believe Ankalaev's unique selling point is his ability to combine both; he blends the two very well into MMA. His main strength is his hand speed, which truly sets him apart for a guy his size."
“As I said (before the UFC 313): His strong point is his striking. A lot of people thought I was bluffing, but the fact that he has that speed makes him confident in striking with anyone,” he declared.
Ankalaev's grating and takedown strategy at UFC 313
Amid the divergence of opinions about Poatan's success in defending takedowns and Ankalaev's strategy of simply confusing the Brazilian with grappling, Ronny stated that he saw that unlike the previous rounds, the Russian actually used all his strength and technique to take his rival to the ground in the last round of the first fight.
"To be honest, in the fifth round I think Ankalaev really tried to take Poatan down and Poatan managed to make that defense with the yoke, which is when you put your arm inside and win in fencing, even if you have hand to hand there on the body, it's difficult to take him down"
"In the other rounds, I was sure he wasn't looking for a takedown. It was more about seeing the feint and using what he does, what he likes to do, which is striking. In the fifth round, I believe he went for a takedown and was stopped by Poatan's defenses, who showed he was doing a great job with Glover."
Alex Poatán was defeated by Magomed Ankalayev No. UFC 313. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram/UFC
Rivalry surfaced
Poatan recently claimed to have been told that Ankalaev chose to hide to avoid conflict while the two shared a space at the UFC gym. Like the gym's receptionist, Markes acknowledged that the incident was poorly explained.
"He's a very cool, calm guy, and he arrives at training in a good mood. I think that this thing that happened at the UFC Performance Institute, first they said he hid, that he was inside the room. What I think happened was that in the UFC, all athletes, especially those who are going to fight for the belt, have a schedule within the UFC. There have been cases where they almost fought, so they set a time limit for each athlete to train. So, suddenly Ankalaev arrived early, Poatan hadn't finished training, and this happened."
Alex Poatán e Magomed Ankalayev they carry out a rematch in UFC 320. Photo: Reproduction/Twitter/UFC
Strategy for UFC 320
Finally, Ronny spoke about what he imagines the rematch scenario will be like and didn't hesitate to declare that he believes in a 'replay' of the first encounter, despite recognizing the danger posed by Poatan from the beginning to the end of the fight.
"I think Poatan will adopt a different fighting style. He'll hunt more, as he did in the fifth round, to try to be a little more effective. But this is both a positive and a negative point. While you try to pressure, you expose yourself to a takedown, but if you can land it, you'll connect your game. I think this fight will be a repeat of the first, very similar."
"But anything can happen. Poatan is a guy who has knockout power from the first minute to the 25th minute of the fight, but I think it will be similar to the first fight," he concluded.
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