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Of all the people watching the main event at UFC 263, Robert Whittaker was probably the most invested in the outcome. If Israel Adesanya won, then the Australian would likely get his rematch with the middleweight champion next. However, if Marvin Vettori won, then Whittaker would be forced to wait longer, a trilogy fight between Adesanya and Vettori most likely being the UFC’s next step.
Luckily for ‘The Reaper’, ‘The Last Stylebender’ comfortably beat ‘The Italian Dream’ over five rounds last Saturday. Robert Whittaker’s mind was further put at ease during Adesanya’s post-fight octagon interview, as the Nigerian New Zealander confirmed that a rematch with ‘The Reaper’ was next on his hit list.
The knockout loss to Adesanya in 2019 stopped an eight-fight win streak that spanned five years in the UFC. Whittaker currently sports an impressive three-fight win-streak and will be keen to avenge his defeat and win the UFC middleweight championship.
Let’s take a look at three reasons why Robert Whittaker is destined to dethrone Israel Adesanya:
#3 Whittaker has matured
When they first fought in Melbourne at UFC 243, Robert Whittaker’s game plan was reckless. He rushed forward, keen on putting Adesanya away quickly, and was outstruck by a master-striker. Although ‘The Reaper’ had some success in his first-round "caution-to-the-wind" approach, he was knocked down at the end of it, being saved by the bell. Soon enough, in the second round, Robert Whittaker was knocked out by ‘The Last Stylebender’ and dethroned as the middleweight king.
As defeats in the UFC go, that one was particularly crushing for Robert Whittaker, so it is all the more impressive how ‘Bobby Knuckles’ has matured as a fighter. As John Kavanagh would say, "win or learn," and the Australian has certainly done the latter.
Since 2019, Robert Whittaker has racked up dominating wins against Darren Till, Jared Cannonier, and Kelvin Gastelum. With each fight, ‘The Reaper’ has looked more composed, tactically striking from a distance while evading most incoming attacks. This new and improved Whittaker will cause Adesanya concern.
#2 Adesanya has lost since 2019
Part of the aura built around ‘The Last Stylebender’ was his unbeaten run before his 2019 fight with Robert Whittaker in Melbourne, Australia. Of course, the hype was to some extent deserved, but it has been a mixed bag for Adesanya since the pair first met in the octagon.
While the Nigerian New Zealander annihilated Paulo Costa at UFC 253 last year, he was also uncharacteristically action-less in his 2020 fight with Yoel Romero. Most importantly, Adesanya suffered his first loss to Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259 earlier this year.
#1 Robert Whittaker will have a new blueprint to win
Learning from his loss to 'The Last Stylebender' in 2019, ‘The Reaper’ must surely have seen enough holes to capitalize on from Adesanya’s most recent fights.
Underwhelming performances against Jan Blachowicz and Yoel Romero have shown that Adesanya relies a bit too much on counter-striking, and even though he comfortably beat Marvin Vettori last Saturday, Adesanya was hesitant to engage too much with ‘The Italian Dream’.
With newfound confidence and a better game plan, Robert Whittaker goes into this rematch with all of the tools to possibly dethrone the current UFC middleweight king.
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