What's going on? Poatan claims he was doing well in the fight and that Gane got tired: 'He's all muscle, he has no heart'

Poatan shaken after being knocked out by Gane at UFC. Photo: Reproduction/X/UFC

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Brutally defeated by Cyryl Gane, Alex Poatán continues to have difficulty dealing with what happened in UFC White HouseIn the co-main event of the grand event held last Sunday (14), in Washington (USA), the Brazilian did not find 'Bon Gamin' in the octagon and ended up being knocked out in the second round. However, in the view of the company's star, his debut in the heavyweight division (up to 120,2 kg) was not so disastrous.

In an interview with the YouTube channel 'The Ariel Helwani Show', Poatan stated that he was doing well in the fight and that his opponent was lucky to win in the second round, as he wouldn't have lasted longer. It's worth noting that, previously, the Brazilian, dissatisfied, stressed that referee Herb Dean was primarily responsible for his defeat, since he didn't penalize Gane for the alleged illegal strikes to the back of his neck, and described the jab thrown by him, which caused him to fall in the octagon, as a lucky strike.

But despite the veteran's positive assessment of his performance, the statistics for the fight, published on the UFC's official website, show just the opposite. In total, the Brazilian landed only 12 strikes in the fight, while Gane, physically fit and accustomed to five-round fights, landed 54. In the second round, Poatan only managed to land one strike on his opponent. Even so, the athlete maintains that the Frenchman was the one in trouble in the octagon.

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“I felt good in the fight. In the first round I was feeling confident, and in the second round is when he landed that hand, that jab. That's when I felt the impact. I don't want to take away from his merit, you know? Sometimes we say things a little upset about everything, you know? But he hit me with a jab. I don't want to take away from his merit in any way. He hit me, right? I made a mistake there,” said the athlete.

“But, man, that’s what a lucky shot is all about. The guy’s there, he trained, that jab is his merit. But I’ll say one thing, right? If it weren’t for the punches to the back of the head, maybe I wouldn’t say the result, I would have won, I don’t know, but the fight would have been different, maybe it would have lasted longer, because with all those strong punches, elbows, punches to the back of the head, I still managed to get up and, when he came at me, I started attacking him again, right?”

“I believe that if I hadn’t taken those blows, maybe I would have recovered more. Man, seeing everything, it certainly makes me a little sad, right? Because looking at how the fight was going, I was calm in the first round. Some people say, 'Oh, he has his mouth open.' I was there in the corner, it’s a breathing technique I use, I have to open my mouth to do that, you know? I was doing well in the fight, man.”

“He was about to start putting pressure on me in the second round. Did you see the blitz he gave me? I can see that he's not prepared, you know? If that happens at the end of the first or second round, if he puts on that kind of pressure at any point, that guy won't survive there, man. He's all muscle and stuff, but man, that guy has no heart. He's shown that in other fights, you know?”

“I had every opportunity, but they messed me up. Look at how he was standing there. The fight was over, and he didn't celebrate. He couldn't celebrate. He gave it his all, you know? He had to land those blows, you know? Because he knew that would hurt me. I felt good.”

“In the first round, honestly, I didn’t even sit on the stool, man. I just stood there breathing. I felt good. And, like I said, I was doing well in the fight, reading the action, relaxed, calm. He was throwing punches, man, but I was calm, I wasn’t feeling it, man. Eventually, I was going to find my moment, everyone knows my fighting style,” he concluded.

Watch Ciryl Gane's knockout of Alex Poatan at UFC White House.

He just did that 😮‍💨@Ciryl_Gane creates an unforgettable moment as he earns the RD2 TKO victory!#UFCWhiteHouse LIVE NOW on @ParamountMore!

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- UFC (@ufc) June 15, 2026