Former Jungle Fight welterweight champion Quemuel
Ottoni will finally make his debut on U.S. soil when he faces
Jackson-Wink MMA product Chris Brown
at the PFL Challenger Series “Second Chance” event on Friday.
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“I should have made my debut in January, but unfortunately I had a
spinal sprain so I postponed it to March,” Ottoni told
Sherdog.com.
Ottoni is happy to make his PFL debut against a fellow striker.
“Brown likes to brawl just like myself and that will be good for
the fans,” he said. “I hope to impose my game and get a contract
signed. I’ve waited a long time to have my chance to fight in the
U.S., where everything happens, and I’ll not waste that.”
Ottoni is perhaps best known for a third-round submission victory
over current UFC middleweight champion Alex
Pereira at Jungle Fight 82 in 2015. Since that rear-naked choke
win, Ottoni and Pereira have followed totally different career
paths. While “Poatan” initially decided to focus on his Glory
kickboxing career, where he won belts in two divisions, Ottoni
stayed on the MMA track and captured the Jungle Fight welterweight
crown some seven years after besting Pereira.
Coincidentally, Ottoni will have Pereira’s former coach in his
corner at the Challenger Series on Friday night. While Ottoni
expected Israel
Adesanya to defeat Pereira in their first meeting last
November, he believes his former foe should be favored in the
rematch at UFC 287.
“Actually, I thought ‘Poatan’ would have his best chances in the
first three rounds and, after that, the fight would get tougher for
him, but ‘Poatan’ proved I was wrong,” Ottoni said. “He got
stronger in the fourth and ended the fight in the fifth round. Now
I believe he is the favorite and of course I’m cheering for him so
I can keep being the only man to beat him in MMA.”