Is Alex Poatan's grappling now...

[Kwic]

Rumor has it that he submitted Gordon Ryan via gogoplata in training.

 

[The Big Babou]

dude got taken down and held down an entire round by by the fearsome wrestler Israel Adesanya. he likely has the worst grappling and wrestling in the entire LHW division. makes sense he's trying his level best to avoid Ankalaev like plague with stupid shit like ramadan title shot so he can run away in opposite direction

If Issy and Poatan fought again do you think that scenario would repeat? I don't. His grappling has improved significantly since then.

On the surface, requesting a fight in April is a bit sus but Poatan earned that break after last year's schedule which included a string of short notice fights, something which none of the championship fighters in Khabib's camp would do (Sherdogs posted a front post article that states this).

Does Ankalaev have a right to dictate when or where the fight should happen? He's the challenger.

And, as I stated in other posts yesterday, there's a bunch other things to consider, from the UFC 's pov

 

[IsNormal]

He was taken down at will by Adesanya who is a kickboxer.

Not really.
They are 1-1 in takedowns.
Izzy only succeeded with 1/4 attempts (and also did quite a bit of clinch work where he looked to be searching for leg trips)




That being said - Pereira's TD was only done after the ten second horn tooted so we didn't see how long he could keep Izzy down.
Meanwhile Izzy kept pereira down for 3.5 minutes until the round ended, so that was really bad for Alex.
He tried to stand up multiple times but was brought down.
So yes - I can easily imagine Alex losing a fight just by being taken down and not being able to get up.

If any decent wrestler is at MW, LHW, or HW they should be highly favored over Pereira. Was kind of hoping to see Khamzat get the fight because that would've been a real test.

I dunno. Khamzat looks so small when sparring with Gus.

Gus takes Khamzat down easily in sparring - but that doesn't mean much really (Gus has also said Khamzat takes him, and bigger guys, down a ton) I'm just saying look at the size difference.
I don't see Khamzat just jumping up to LHW on short notice.

 

[Laheys'Liquorland]

I love how people claim Poatan hasn't been tested by a wrestler....but I thought the new Generation fighters are All around and better more skilled than the 2000s fighters.

 

[DrRodentia]

Fuck off.

Alex is better than Izzy, in every conceivable way, except speed.

Hope Alex actually challenges Izzy to a grappling match, because Pereira will win decisively.

.

Read my post one more time and then kindly fuck off yourself.

 

[Trabaho]

Wtf Anderson is a brazilian who trained bjj from the start and competet since early days in MMA. Alex crossed over from kickboxing 5 years ago. No comparison.

 

[MMAProfessional]

Not a chance in hell that it's even close to what Anderson's was. That much is a fact.

Idk man Alex is a black belt now

 

[Tweak896]

Not really.
They are 1-1 in takedowns.
Izzy only succeeded with 1/4 attempts (and also did quite a bit of clinch work where he looked to be searching for leg trips)


View attachment 1078741

That being said - Pereira's TD was only done after the ten second horn tooted so we didn't see how long he could keep Izzy down.
Meanwhile Izzy kept pereira down for 3.5 minutes until the round ended, so that was really bad for Alex.
He tried to stand up multiple times but was brought down.
So yes - I can easily imagine Alex losing a fight just by being taken down and not being able to get up.

I dunno. Khamzat looks so small when sparring with Gus.

Gus takes Khamzat down easily in sparring - but that doesn't mean much really (Gus has also said Khamzat takes him, and bigger guys, down a ton) I'm just saying look at the size difference.
I don't see Khamzat just jumping up to LHW on short notice.

Gus took down Jones though back then. It's a weird matchup and not my first choice. Rather have DDP vs Khamzat, instead UFC decided to waste time giving Strickland a rematch.

Alex has cleared the division at LHW and he had a little history with Khamzat. Honestly Khamzat probably presents a bigger grappling threat than Ankalaev.

 

[Luffy]

Anyone that has to try to shame their future opponents (Ankalaev) into standing with them is not good on the ground.
Much like how MVP is doing with Bullet.

I wish these striker dorks would go kickbox if they're so scared of grappling.

When did Poatan ever shame Anakalaev into grappling with him? Aren't you confusing Ankalaev with the fans? If anything, Ankalaev was the one who said he'd fight striking lmao. Alex openly said already he accepted to fight Ankalaev, but the UFC had other plans. He also accepted to fight Chimaev more than once — he pointed out that Chimaev would call him only when Poatan's fight were already booked, but when Poatan's fight had not been booked and Poatan called Chimaev, Chimaev said no, which is true.... So how is he afraid of grappling? Heck, if it were up to him, Tom Aspinall would be the one he'd be facing in UFC 300. If you think Poatan is scared of grapplers, then you're fooling yourself.

 

[Luffy]

Not really.
They are 1-1 in takedowns.
Izzy only succeeded with 1/4 attempts (and also did quite a bit of clinch work where he looked to be searching for leg trips)


View attachment 1078741

That being said - Pereira's TD was only done after the ten second horn tooted so we didn't see how long he could keep Izzy down.
Meanwhile Izzy kept pereira down for 3.5 minutes until the round ended, so that was really bad for Alex.
He tried to stand up multiple times but was brought down.
So yes - I can easily imagine Alex losing a fight just by being taken down and not being able to get up.

I dunno. Khamzat looks so small when sparring with Gus.

Gus takes Khamzat down easily in sparring - but that doesn't mean much really (Gus has also said Khamzat takes him, and bigger guys, down a ton) I'm just saying look at the size difference.
I don't see Khamzat just jumping up to LHW on short notice.

Haha yeah Alex Gustaffson back in the days of his prime would likely dominantly defeat Chimaev. Chimaev said in an interview that he has trained a lot with Gustaffson and sees him as a monster... So he said "if Jon Jones could stop that guy twice, then I don't think there's anyone better than Jon Jones". Basically, he considered Gustaffson, back in Gus' better days, someone who he is surprised to see losing twice to one guy.

Poatan is big like Gus and JJ, in sheer size — he weighs normally around 230 pounds and although he cuts to 205, in the day of the fight Poatan is already weighing around 225 ~ 230 lbs...

Gordon Ryan recently said that steroids are legal in jiu jitsu... Which according to him gives a big help in jiu jitsu. So, grappling, jiu jitsu... Lot of technique, yes, but strength DOES matter, A LOT. If a very strong guy, around 230 lbs, known to have a very big muscle density like Poatan, is training grappling consistently for 5 years, showing actual improvements in it in each fight he's tested on it, with Glover himself saying Poatan out grapples him oftentimes, with ppl saying Poatan is special because he learns considerably quicker than most pro fighters... Then yeah, ppl who think Ankalaev or Chimaev could easily drop, him might be pretty off on this take. Nevermind some ppl even talking the troll statement from Ali of Islam vs Poatan seriously lmao...

Not to mention, Alex Poatan works grappling defense with strikes... His coach said, briefly, that Alex's bulk training in stopping takedowns comes amidst striking a lot to break his opponents' positions and make them fail on it, which according to his coach works so well because even when pressed in the clinch, Poatan's strikes come out like a rock, that the face Poatan is able to generate incredible striking power in very limited distances is a huge thing...

... Which is what he did to break Jiri's take down attempt, partially — punched him to the ribs and knee'd him in the chest... Although most fighters don't have the strength to generate much power in close spaces, Poatan has enough strength to make it pretty painful even in very bad angles to strike. That's why Jiri couldn't get to the legs, so he tried doing what DC himself said he would do, almost immediately after DC said that — got his legs into Alex's legs to try to drag him down, to which Poatan responded quickly by landing pretty quick consecutive right hooks, that even in such an unfavorable angle, hurt Jiri enough that it made Jiri unable to keep holding Poatan's body and made Jiri need to quickly disengage his left arm from Alex's body to stop the punches — and that's where Alex's knowledge comes into the picture, as he instantly realized that and grabbed Jiri's left arm with such a strong grip that Jiri could not let go of his left arm... Then Poatan landed a knee to Jiri's upper leg, which disrupted Jiri's position further, so Alex, with his knowledge from Judo, from training with Kayla, placed his left hand behind Jiri's right shoulder and threw him aside — no one comments how good Poatan's takedown defense in his last fight vs Jiri was...

 

[kuroro]

Alex is better than Izzy, in every conceivable way, except speed.

All their fights actually proved he's worse in every conceivable way, except for his insane punching power.

 

[IronGolem007]

All their fights actually proved he's worse in every conceivable way, except for his insane punching power.

You don't know what you're looking at.

Explain why Alex became a two-division Glory Champion — Izzy failed to become a SINGLE-division Glory Champion.

Explain why Alex beat everyone in Glory who Izzy lost to.

Explain why Alex beat everyone in the UFC who Izzy lost to.

Explain why Alex became a two-division UFC Champion — while Izzy failed to accomplish this.

Like I said, you don't know what you're looking at, and you don't know how to assess who is who.

 

[Bend NvR Break]

Alex for wrestled up by Izzy.

I fear what khazmat would do to him.

 

[hector domino]

I love how people claim Poatan hasn't been tested by a wrestler....but I thought the new Generation fighters are All around and better more skilled than the 2000s fighters.

they are trash Poatan or izzy gets chewed up and spit out in pride. mfers getting submitted by welterwights

 

[Doctor Grudge]

You don't know what you're looking at.

Explain why Alex became a two-division Glory Champion — Izzy failed to become a SINGLE-division Glory Champion.

Explain why Alex beat everyone in Glory who Izzy lost to.

Explain why Alex beat everyone in the UFC who Izzy lost to.

Explain why Alex became a two-division UFC Champion — while Izzy failed to accomplish this.

Like I said, you don't know what you're looking at, and you don't know how to assess who is who.

None of those really contradict what that guy said though. Not saying I necessarily agree with him, but those aren't attributes.

And some of them are a little silly. Israel only had 3 fights in Glory and he left kickboxing. Israel had a harder and longer path to becoming an MMA champion, and was still able to become champ while undefeated.

Israel just has a much larger sample size in MMA over Poatan in general. Fought more variety of opponents, difference sizes, different levels. I mean Alex beat everyone Israel lost to? When did he fight DDP?


Israel lost at 205 because he isn't that big, and only had one fight at 205. The same guy he lost to nearly beat Poatan despite being older, so I don't really get the shame in that.

 

[volcom5]

I would say he's like a Conor on the ground lol

Don’t know bout that, I didn’t see Pereira staring at the refs eyes to save his life at anytime he been on his back.

 

[Donnybat]

Sonnen could not even take him down after round 1 as they had wasted so much energy controlling Anderson.

Sonnen was 30 secs away from being champ in first fight, by controlling him for 24.5mins.
Needless to say, Silva BJJ was Michael Jordan esque.

 

[BJJ4Tone]

When did Poatan ever shame Anakalaev into grappling with him? Aren't you confusing Ankalaev with the fans? If anything, Ankalaev was the one who said he'd fight striking lmao. Alex openly said already he accepted to fight Ankalaev, but the UFC had other plans. He also accepted to fight Chimaev more than once — he pointed out that Chimaev would call him only when Poatan's fight were already booked, but when Poatan's fight had not been booked and Poatan called Chimaev, Chimaev said no, which is true.... So how is he afraid of grappling? Heck, if it were up to him, Tom Aspinall would be the one he'd be facing in UFC 300. If you think Poatan is scared of grapplers, then you're fooling yourself.

Poatan is the biggest duck in the entire UFC. (Jones is a VERY close second.)
Dude is on one of the longest unbeaten streaks in UFC history and Pereira still refuses to fight him. Go fucking kickbox, you dork.
That's coward behavior.

 

[IsNormal]

Gus took down Jones though back then.

Yeah, it's cool Gus managed to take down both Jon and DC.
But he didn't do any damage and they got up fast, so I view them more as symbolic wins than something that really impacted the fights.

Gus best performance on the ground imo was against Jan. Especially in hindsight. (But this was als

Sonnen was 30 secs away from being champ in first fight, by controlling him for 24.5mins.

Yeah, Sonnen vs Silva 1 is not talked about enough. It was 30 seconds away from being one of the most one sided dominations of a GOATy champ.

 

[JBJ was here]

Yeah, Sonnen vs Silva 1 is not talked about enough. It was 30 seconds away from being one of the most one sided dominations of a GOATy champ.

Sonnen vs. Silva 1 was 30 seconds away from being a no contest considering that Sonnen popped for the fight. And it wasn't really any less of a domination for the finish, just a domination with a twist ending.