Former UFC champion Robert Whittaker and undisputed champion Israel Adesanya are on a collision course. Both men will meet inside the octagon in the main event of UFC 271. Ahead of the fight, the former champion talked about Adesanya’s last performance against Marvin Vettori at UFC 263.
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In an interview on The MMA Hour, he said, “I thought it was a good performance. He’s a good fighter, props when they’re due, he’s a good fight, he’s a great fighter. I think he fights really smart and tactically and that’s a good skill set to have.”
“That’s a massively underrated thing, especially at the top of the ladder, is doing what you need to do to win. Whether it be exciting or not or for the crowd or not. That’s a hard thing to do for a lot of guys.”
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“But I guess my overarching feeling of that fight was just, I can beat him. Marvin was landing strikes on him, and I’m better at striking than Marvin. Marvin was landing takedowns, and my timing’s better for takedowns. I think I can beat him. He just looked beatable. There were some fights he’s had where he looked untouchable, like that Costa fight… But then he fought Marvin, and I just thought he can be beaten.”
Robert Whittaker will look to emulate Jan Blachowicz’s tactics against Israel Adesanya
The UFC middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, has lost just once in his professional MMA career. That loss came at the hands of the former light heavyweight champion, Jan Blachowicz, at UFC 259.
‘The Last Stylebender‘ got dominated as ‘The Polish Power’, who was patient, didn’t rush in, and took Adesanya down at every opportunity. According to Whittaker, that’s what it is going to take for him to beat the champion on February 12, 2022.
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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MARCH 06: (R-L) Jan Blachowicz of Poland punches Israel Adesanya of Nigeria in their UFC light heavyweight championship fight during the UFC 259 event at UFC APEX on March 06, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
In the interview, he said that Blachowicz “set the blueprint” to beat the middleweight champion. It involved, ‘patience, striking, and landing takedowns’.
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‘Bobby Knuckles‘ will look to incorporate Blachowicz’s game plan into his own and hope to reclaim the title. Do you he’ll be able to do so? Will Robert Whittaker be able to beat Israel Adesanya? Let us know in the comments below!
