Alex Poatan is out, again, with his arm raised after another UFC fight. However, the road to UFC 307, last weekend, was surrounded by drama and difficulties for the Brazilian.
After the victory over the American Khalil Rountree Jr., last Saturday, in Salt Lake City, Alex Poatan revealed that he faced injuries, illnesses and other types of problems in preparing for the duel.
“I went through a lot of things that no one knows about. I was in Brazil for over a month, I had some problems with my visa, I went to the consulate every day trying to see if my passport was ready to be picked up. I finally managed to return to the USA, I passed about a week in Connecticut, I’ve been here for three weeks, in the meantime I took antibiotics. I had a fever, a sore throat and a lot of things happened.”
Alex Poatan regrets return from injuries
In addition to these problems, Alex Poatan also revealed that old injuries returned during the camp period. There were cases of bruises on the rib and toe. “I went through a lot of things in this preparation. It was a difficult fight, but it was a difficult preparation for this fight, and I actually feel very proud of myself at this moment”, he highlighted.
The tendency is for Poatan to have more time to recover, as the Brazilian has become one of the UFC’s most popular figures not only because of his technique, but also because of the frequency with which he appears in the Octagon.
Since November 2023, Poatan has fought four fights, winning all of them by knockout.
Go up or down? Poatan defines UFC destiny
After making his third title defense in the light heavyweight category of UFC, Alex Poatan Pereira spoke about what his next steps will be in the organization.
The Brazilian had already shown himself open to both moving up to heavyweight and dropping back down to middleweight.
The champion seemed to be focused on making a new weight cut to take the title from Dricus Du Plessis in his old category, but he has already backed down — at least for now.
“I heard that the fight is already going to Sean Strickland, who is my friend. I’m not going to get in his way,” he assured, in an interview above the Octagon at UFC 307, this Saturday (5).