Robert Whittaker will headline the UFC’s first-ever event in Saudi Arabia on June 22. While he was originally booked opposite Khamzat Chimaev, ‘Borz’ has fallen violently ill and been replaced with unranked albeit promising middleweight prospect Ikram Aliskerov in a main event bout that will have very real title implications. Coming off of victories over top contenders Sean Strickland and Paulo Costa, a victory in Saudi would make an excellent case for Whittaker to fight for the title against the winner of the upcoming title bout between champion Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya, who detest each other.

‘The Reaper’ is of the opinion that ‘Izzy’ will have an uphill task against ‘DDP’ based upon one factor: the vast difference in how Adesanya and Du Plessis fared against Strickland.

‘The Reaper’ feels Israel Adesanya needs a game plan to counter ‘DDP’s pressure fighting

Israel Adesanya and Dricus Du Plessis have been feuding since last year after Du Plessis made comments that ‘Izzy’ saw as questioning his African heritage. Although offered a shot at then-champ Adesanya at UFC 293, ‘DDP’ was injured and turned it down. Instead, ‘Stylebender’ fought Sean Strickland on the September ’23 card and lost a comprehensive unanimous decision to ‘Tarzan’ in one of the most shocking upsets in UFC history. Strickland then fought Du Plessis and lost the title to the South African at their electric UFC 297 clash.

Now, Adesanya will reportedly face Du Plessis at UFC 305 in August to resolve their beef and try to get his title back. But Robert Whittaker is not very optimistic about ‘Izzy’s chances against the reigning champion. Speaking to reporters at a media day event, the former champ felt that Du Plessis’ UFC 297 performance against Strickland showed that the South African, at least stylistically, was more than capable of beating ‘Izzy’.

“Honestly I think Dricus fighting Sean displayed a level of pressure that he can put, which is you know [very effective]. To stop a pressure fighter like Sean, I thought that was pretty impressive. He’s tough and dogged in that effect. And then we saw Sean have a lot of success against Adesanya, pushing forward, pushing that pace, being in his face,” ‘The Reaper’ said during a media interaction. 

“So you’d have to, you know, make the connections that that’s what Dricus is going to do to Adesanya. And you know, unless Adesanya has done something to counter that since the last time he crossed Sean’s path, it might be a long night [for Adesanya],” he added.

‘The Reaper’ felt that since ‘Izzy’ struggled against Strickland’s pressure fighting style, which Du Plessis is more than capable of implementing himself, Adesanya needs to have an effective and potent game plan to counter this. Otherwise, according to Whittaker, the 34-year-old will find himself on the receiving end as he did against Strickland.

In sharp contrast, however, Israel Adesanya is very upbeat about Whittaker’s chances against Ikram Aliskerov this weekend.

‘Izzy’ predicts a one-sided win for Robert Whittaker at Saudi

Speaking about Whittaker-Aliskerov on his official YouTube channel, Israel Adesanya predicted his old foe and fellow Kiwi Whittaker would win without much trouble. Given their stylistic matchup and the difference in both men’s experience and resumes, with ‘The Reaper’ being a former champion having fought the best fighters, compared to Aliskerov, who is just two fights into his UFC career, ‘Izzy’ predicted a one-sided victory for Whittaker.

“I like this fight. It’s a banger of a fight. But also, this guy (Aliskerov), who did he last beat? Warlley Alves. Big step up in competition, though, against Rob. Rob, a former champion, still on a hunt, still dangerous. I’m picking Rob in this fight. I think Rob’s going to beat the brakes off this guy,” he said.

Izzy felt that because Whittaker is an excellent wrestler himself, he would not have much trouble against his upcoming Dagestani opponent, and reiterated that a round “three or four TKO”  was on the horizon for ‘Reaper.’ What are your predictions for Whittaker-Aliskerov? Share in the comments.