Poatan Fight Speculation?

[Doughie99]

301 is 3 days away fellas, he's probably planning on attending and announcing his next fight there.

Yup I think this is probably it.

No.1 he still has a recently busted toe. UFC300 was less than 3weeks ago and his toe was in bad shape then. Might not even have got medically cleared to fight this weekend even if he had wanted to.
No.2 Pereira is a BIG draw especially in Brazil (obviously) so the UFC would be maxxing the pre-fight hype if Pereira was fighting this weekend.
No.3 He's for SURE gonna be in attendance at the event, front and center, this is his own country.
No.4 I really doubt he's gonna fight Aspinall at HW (but it's possible) -- I think Ankalev at LHW is the most likely opponent.

and finally.....remember that Alex does have a sense of humor and enjoys a prank...... see this :

 

[MMonk]

Ankalaev is high risk low reward fight, althought interesting for a hardcore fan.

Poatan vs Aspinall would be BIG international PPV

 

[Doughie99]

Ankalaev is high risk low reward fight, althought interesting for a hardcore fan.

Poatan vs Aspinall would be BIG international PPV

this is why I think it'll be Ankalev at LHW and not Aspinall at HW :

Dana, timestamped :



What Dana wants Dana usually gets and you can tell very clearly from his comments that he is not in favor of Pereira fighting at HW right now, so this is why I am leaning towards Ankalaev at LHW as Pereira's next opponent, and Ankalaev is absolutely worthy, he is a very good and complete fighter and he'll be a strong test for Pereira indeed.

 

[Pequeño Corey]

Bummer. Was really hoping to get the Ankalaev fight over with. I'd either be eating crow, or doling out bulk-season proportions.

 

[StonedLemur]

lol, KO'd via left hook, IN A DIAPER lol

Lmao...a shitty diaper after that left hook.

 

[linvillegorge]

this is why I think it'll be Ankalev at LHW and not Aspinall at HW :

Dana, timestamped :



What Dana wants Dana usually gets and you can tell very clearly from his comments that he is not in favor of Pereira fighting at HW right now, so this is why I am leaning towards Ankalaev at LHW as Pereira's next opponent, and Ankalaev is absolutely worthy, he is a very good and complete fighter and he'll be a strong test for Pereira indeed.

I honestly don't understand why. Poatan fighting for the HW belt and the opportunity to become the first ever UFC triple champ is a WAY bigger fight than anything they can feasibly make for him at LHW. Izzy and fucking with Poatan at 205. He ain't dumb.

 

[KungFuFoo]

"jon jones would ragdoll poatan":

 

[Doughie99]

I honestly don't understand why. Poatan fighting for the HW belt and the opportunity to become the first ever UFC triple champ is a WAY bigger fight than anything they can feasibly make for him at LHW. Izzy and fucking with Poatan at 205. He ain't dumb.

I agree Adesanya does not want to fight Pereira again, especially not at 205lbs.

you MIGHT be right : it could be Pereira at HW.
But I think Pereira going to HW is more likely to happen sometime down the line, maybe 2025 or later. I think UFC knows that Aspinall is a submission BJJ machine and therefore could easily submit Pereira and they don't want their new Brazilian wunderkid getting subbed in Rd.1 by Aspinall --- it would be a bad look and ruin the growing legend that is Pereira as Pereira brings in $$$$ for the UFC.

Let Aspinall find his own path against current heavyweights.

 

[Nobru]

Ankalaev is a great challenge for sure, but (a) it would sell, but not a huge one and (b) I dont think Ank earned a TS by beating Johnny Walker...... ank x jiri, jan or hill first would make more sense for now

Tom x Poatan is the fight to make.

 

[CatchtheseHands]

I honestly don't understand why. Poatan fighting for the HW belt and the opportunity to become the first ever UFC triple champ is a WAY bigger fight than anything they can feasibly make for him at LHW. Izzy and fucking with Poatan at 205. He ain't dumb.

Because it's too early for that right now and they likely want to wait until the HW division is back on track first. Besides, they probably would want Alex to fight Aspinall for the title if they are going to make that fight.

 

[MigitAs]

No fucking way. I will ride Goatan’s balls to the day I die if this is true.

 

[Danespina]

Wouldn't even matter who the opponent is. Could just be a fun non-title bout like Anderson vs. Bonnar.

 

[sjon22]

Ankalaev is high risk low reward fight, althought interesting for a hardcore fan.

Poatan vs Aspinall would be BIG international PPV

It's an interesting fight but Ankalaevs last few fights have really made me question his IQ.

 

[linvillegorge]

I agree Adesanya does not want to fight Pereira again, especially not at 205lbs.

you MIGHT be right : it could be Pereira at HW.
But I think Pereira going to HW is more likely to happen sometime down the line, maybe 2025 or later. I think UFC knows that Aspinall is a submission BJJ machine and therefore could easily submit Pereira and they don't want their new Brazilian wunderkid getting subbedf in Rd.1 by Aspinall --- it would be a bad look and ruin the growing legend that is Pereira.

Let Aspinall find his own path against current heavyweights.

Maybe. I just don't think losing to Aspinall at HW would really have much if any negative effect on the perception of Poatan. Of course you'll have you typical folks who think anyone who has lost recently sucks and got exposed. But really, he'd still be the LHW champ and a fucking beast. The buzz would be right back if he came back the next fight and smoked a top LHW contender. At the end of the day he's what, 35, 36 years old? The clock is ticking.

 

[linvillegorge]

Because it's too early for that right now and they likely want to wait until the HW division is back on track first. Besides, they probably would want Alex to fight Aspinall for the title if they are going to make that fight.

The UFC has never let such things get in the way of making the biggest fights they can at the time. Jones sitting at home with the belt refusing to fight anyone but retired Stipe is what's fucking up the HW division. That has nothing to do with a potential Poatan/Aspinall fight. Hell, if I was the UFC I'd just strip Jones and have Aspinall and Poatan fight for the real belt. If Jones wants to come back and fight again, fine. Instant title shot. If not, well enjoy continuing to fuck up your life. Whatever.

 

[Hdfi]

this is why I think it'll be Ankalev at LHW and not Aspinall at HW :

Dana, timestamped :



What Dana wants Dana usually gets and you can tell very clearly from his comments that he is not in favor of Pereira fighting at HW right now, so this is why I am leaning towards Ankalaev at LHW as Pereira's next opponent, and Ankalaev is absolutely worthy, he is a very good and complete fighter and he'll be a strong test for Pereira indeed.

I don't know why Dana doesn't want to make Pereira vs Aspinall. It would be a great fight and the ufc wins anyway regardless of the outcome. Jones will never fight Aspinall, and Poatan isn't getting any younger...

Strike while the iron is hot.

 

[CatchtheseHands]

The UFC has never let such things get in the way of making the biggest fights they can at the time. Jones sitting at home with the belt refusing to fight anyone but retired Stipe is what's fucking up the HW division. That has nothing to do with a potential Poatan/Aspinall fight. Hell, if I was the UFC I'd just strip Jones and have Aspinall and Poatan fight for the real belt. If Jones wants to come back and fight again, fine. Instant title shot. If not, well enjoy continuing to fuck up your life. Whatever.

I'd say it does have something to do with it because Alex is their golden goose at 205 and all him moving up would do right now is just add another variable to an already fucked up division. Having guys move up to fight for anything but a belt unless they're moving up permanently just fucks things up for everyone because you now have a guy that is holding a rank in a division that he isn't even fully committed to fighting in nursing a spot that someone else could have.

 

[linvillegorge]

I'd say it does have something to do with it because Alex is their golden goose at 205 and all him moving up would do right now is just add another variable to an already fucked up division. Having guys move up to fight for anything but a belt unless they're moving up permanently just fucks things up for everyone because you now have a guy that is holding a rank in a division that he isn't even fully committed to fighting in nursing a spot that someone else could have.

Off they cared about guys holding rank Jon Jones wouldn't be blind drunk trying to heckle a comedian with the UFC belt at home and no fight in the works. The HW belt has been on the sidelines for 14 months and isn't even scheduled to be defended while the interim champ is expected to defend an interim belt in the meantime. It's ridiculous.

 

[CatchtheseHands]

Off they cared about guys holding rank Jon Jones wouldn't be blind drunk trying to heckle a comedian with the UFC belt at home and no fight in the works. The HW belt has been on the sidelines for 14 months and isn't even scheduled to be defended while the interim champ is expected to defend an interim belt in the meantime. It's ridiculous.

Holding rank because of injury isn't the same as holding rank because you don't want to fight. You're acting as if Jon is purposely just sitting around not fighting. The dude literally couldn't fight let alone train until just recently. Would it have been better if he vacated to keep things moving? absolutely but I don't think he should be forced to vacate. I don't think anyone should be forced to vacate due to injury unless they choose to like Jiri and Jamahal. I'd honestly say Stipe is just as much at fault as Jon is here. Dude has been rank squatting for years and has absolutely no problem with returning to a free TS when he could do the right thing and turn it down allowing Tom to fight for the belt instead. No one ever seems to talk about that though.