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Robert Whittaker has claimed he sees some chinks in Israel Adesanya's armor after watching the champion go five rounds against Marvin Vettori.
Whittaker, who will challenge Adesanya for the middleweight title at UFC 271 in February, revealed the takeaways from his rival's most recent fight. During an interview with MMA Fighting, Whittaker said:
"I guess my overarching feeling of that fight was that I can beat him. I can beat him. Marvin was landing shots on him and I'm a better striker than Marvin. And like Marvin was getting takedowns and my timing is better for takedowns than Marvin. I think I can beat him. He just looked beatable. There are some fights he's had where he just looked untouchable – that Costa fight, he looked unbelievable there. And then he fought Marvin and then I just thought he can be beaten."
Watch Robert Whittaker talk about his upcoming rematch with Israel Adesanya:
'The Reaper' has clawed his way back into the title picture by stringing together three consecutive wins against top contenders. His initial encounter with Adesanya at UFC 243 saw him lose the divisional crown via knockout in the second round.
Robert Whittaker reveals his game plan for Israel Adesanya
Robert Whittaker has revealed what he intends to do against Israel Adesanya in their upcoming rematch. Unsurprisingly, the Australian revealed that he's going to rely more on his wrestling.
It's no secret that 'The Last Stylebender' is regarded as one of the best strikers in the promotion. In that respect, Whittaker believes his best course of action would be to drag the champ to the ground. During a recent interview with MMA Junkie, the No.1 middleweight contender claimed:
"I would love to be able to get him on his back and to work on the ground. It’s no secret that the greatest advantage anyone would have with ‘Izzy’ is on his back where he can’t use his long arms and long legs to hit you. It’s no secret. Am I going to focus on just that? That’s anybody’s guess because no, I can strike with the best of them, as well, so if an opportunity presents itself – I guess my whole headspace is just utilize the tools and the opportunities that I’m given in this fight, and I think that sums it up pretty well."
