The former UFC middleweight champion, Robert Whittaker, proved once again why he is one of the best at 185-pounds with a clinical display over Kelvin Gastelum. ‘The Reaper’ extended his win streak to 3-0 with a win over the eighth-ranked fighter to cement his place as the undisputed number one contender.
Whittaker believes that his next fight will be for the title against Israel Adesanya. If that is indeed his next fight, the Australian fighter will be aiming to tweak a few things in order to avenge his loss.
A lot has changed since the two men last fought. Both fighters have grown leaps and bounds in their MMA game, but Whittaker believes that the gains he has made are enough to secure a win in the rematch.
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Can Robert Whittaker capitalize on Israel Adesanya’s wrestling?
In the post-fight interview, a reporter asked Whittaker if wrestling was a trick up his sleeve for his rematch against Israel Adesanya.
He said, “It would not be a secret if I told you right now, would it? I guess we will have to wait and see. Who knows what I’d do? Maybe I’d do the same bloody thing. All I do know is that I will give the fight the attention and focus it deserves and needs and I’ll speak with my team and we will work as hard as we can and then when we get to the fight, I will leave it all in there like I always do.”In the middleweight champion’s last fight, Jan Blachowicz exposed a gaping hole in Israel Adesanya’s game. The Polish fighter was able to land 3 of 5 attempted takedowns with an accuracy of 60%. He also had over seven minutes of ground control time.
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Blachowicz landed takedowns on Adesanya far too easily, but this could also have been because of the advantage in weight and power that the Polish fighter had.
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Nonetheless, while on the ground, the light heavyweight champion completely smothered Adesanya. This is an area Whittaker and his team will most definitely consider exploiting the next time the two men face each other.
What do you think Whittaker’s surprise could be?
