Alex Poatán e Israel adesanya facing each other in the octagon UFC 287 (Photo: Instagram/UFC)
Alex Poatán stated that he no longer has any interest in facing Israel adesanya, his biggest opponent in the MMA, after the last chapter of the rivalry. The Brazilian said he tried to give the Nigerian a chance, with whom he has already faced four times, twice in kickboxing and twice in UFC, but saw that he was not respecting his proposal.
"It does not matter to me. I called him out in the octagon after winning the title and I wanted to give him a chance, and I saw that he wasn't respecting me for that – he was laughing about it and making some jokes. So for me it doesn't matter anymore. I gave him the chance. If he shows up, great. If he doesn’t do it, it doesn’t matter either,” Poatan declared in a recent question and answer session in France, organized by Ares FC.
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Poatan tried to instigate a trilogy in MMA against Adesanya by calling him for another fight. The challenge came shortly after the Brazilian won the light heavyweight belt (up to 93kg) by beating Jiri Prochazka No. UFC 295. Recently, the champion released a video showing controversial statements made by the Nigerian in the past, when he criticized him and underestimated his potential.
However, Adesanya didn't seem interested in facing Poatan again, at least for now. The Nigerian announced that he would step away from MMA for an “indefinite period of time” after losing to Sean Strickland by unanimous decision in September. He said he needed to take care of his mental and physical health after suffering from media pressure and was considering returning only in 2027.
“Come to daddy” 😂 pic.twitter.com/IZgvBzR7jX
— PantojaGOAT (@Pantoja_GOAT) December 20, 2023
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