Alex Poatán after defeat in UFC 313 (Photo: Instagram/UFC Canada)
Even after losing the light heavyweight belt to Magomed Ankalayev in March, Alex Poatán He continues to be brought up in debates about "superfights" that never happened. With less than two months until the rematch scheduled against the Russian, in UFC 320The Brazilian was compared to Anthony Johnson, the former UFC 'bogeyman', and ended up being diminished by Josh thomson. The former fighter guaranteed that Poatan would be easily overcome in an imaginary confrontation against the late 'Rumble'.
Alex Poatán made UFC history by becoming the fastest fighter to win two belts in the organization. Still, in Thomson's view, Johnson's immense strength and speed, combined with his wrestling, would be enough to "destroy" the Brazilian in any scenario.
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"I'm a huge Alex fan, but the Rumble would destroy him," Thomson wrote on his 'X' account. "Anthony was very fast and had much more power than anyone who ever knocked Alex out. Plus, if things weren't going well, he could still turn to wrestling," the former fighter added.
Thomson then highlighted that there was no room for balanced exchanges against Johnson.
"You didn't just jab Rumble... every time you landed a blow against him, you paid a heavy price. He knocked people out in a way they didn't even know where they were," he added.
Alex Poatán was knocked out only once in professional MMA, in the rematch against Israel adesanya, for the middleweight belt (up to 83,9 kg), in UFC 287, in April 2023.
Died in November 2022, aged 38, Anthony Johnson remains on the list of greatest knockout artists in UFC history. The American, who competed in the organization between 2007 and 2012, had 11 knockout victories in the Octagon, securing third place on the all-time list, tied with Anderson Silva, Dustin poirier, Max Holloway, Matt Brown and Thiago Marreta.
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