The UFC middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, will make his fourth-ever title defense this weekend at UFC 271. The Nigerian-born fighter will take on the former middleweight champion, Robert Whittaker, in the main event of the night. UFC 271 will take place at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas on the 12th of February.

The former UFC Heavyweight and Middleweight title challenger, Chael Sonnen, gave his thoughts on the upcoming fight at UFC 271. Before starting his own talk show, Sonnen was an MMA analyst for ESPN. Sonnen shared his views on an episode of his podcast show on his YouTube channel.

He said, “If you want to juxtapose Robert Whittaker of today, versus the Whittaker that fought on Adesanya the first time, they’re not even close. Whittaker has grown leaps and bounds Adesanya has not. I will go as so far as to tell you Whittaker is not the same fighter anymore. And I will use as an example to that statement, Whittaker rounds one through five against Kelvin Gastelum.”

“Robert Whittaker had never attempted a takedown. He had never gotten a takedown. Which meant there was no ground and pound, there was no groundwork whatsoever, in his entire career. He goes for four takedowns against Kevin, he gets all four and he kept him there… It is a skill to take somebody off their feet. To keep them there is a different skill. One is wrestling, one is grappling. Whittaker showed a mastery of both. “

According to Sonnen, Whittaker has advanced and improved himself much more than Adesanya has since their last bout at UFC 243.

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UFC 271 Prediction: Israel Adesanya vs Robert Whittaker

The last time we saw Adesanya share the octagon with Whittaker, he absolutely dominated the Australian. Whittaker was extremely impulsive and not clinical at all with his striking, which Israel took advantage of. 

From both fighters, Adesanya is more skilled on the striking front. He is undoubtedly one of the best strikers on the roster right now. 

The only way Whittaker can win the fight is if he takes it to the ground and keeps Israel under his control. This is highly improbable since not only is Adesanya much larger than him in size, but the Nigerian also has one of the best takedown defenses on the roster.

Due to these reasons, Israel Adesanya will enter the octagon as a favorite over Robert Whittaker.

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