Parrumpinha questions Alex Poatan's training in preparation for his UFC 320 fight against Magomed Ankalaev.

Alex Poatán lost the belt in UFC 313. Photo: Reproduction X/UFC

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Marcos Parrumpinha made reservations about the evolution of Alex Poatán in wrestling. The Brazilian recently released a video of your takedown defense training as you prepare to face Magomed Ankalayev at UFC 320. Despite the good performance in the images, the American Top Team coach was not completely convinced.

Participating in the 'MMA Hoje' podcast, Parrumpinha questioned the quality of the training partners who appeared in the video, highlighting the lack of pedigree of Poatan's teammates.

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"A video of Poatan training wrestling with those guys leaked. My brother, those guys don't know shit, sorry. They have no wrestling pedigree whatsoever; those guys must be training partners who are good on the ground and put them to use. Because, judging by the attacks those guys were throwing at them, sorry, brother, but that's not quality wrestling. So: 'Poatan is defending takedowns like nobody's business,' perfect, but who's attacking him?" Parrumpa explained.

The coach also raised the hypothesis that the images may have been staged to create doubts within the opposing team. However, he emphasized that, based on what was shown, the training partners did not demonstrate sufficient technical ability to test Poatan.

"Maybe that's like, 'Let's do some shit here so people think the same thing Parrumpa is thinking.' But, judging by that video there, forgive me, those guys don't have quality wrestling, and they're smaller than Poatan, they're weaker than Poatan... it could be like, 'Turn off the camera, we're going now,' and those guys are really good. But, from what he showed there, he defended the takedowns, but who was attacking?" he concluded.

Alex Poatan faces Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 320

Alex Poatán will have the chance to put his training into practice at UFC 320, scheduled for October 4, when he will face Magomed Ankalayev in the rematch for the light heavyweight title (up to 93 kg). In the first meeting between the two, the Brazilian defended all 12 of the Russian's takedown attempts, but ended up losing by unanimous decision.