"He's underestimating my grappling" - Israel Adesanya claims Robert Whittaker's grappling will not be effective at UFC 271

Israel Adesanya guarantees Robert Whittaker will pay the price for not acknowledging his ground game.

Things have been heating up between 'The Last Stylebender' and 'The Reaper' ahead of their highly-anticipated rematch at UFC 271. The reigning UFC middleweight champion knocked Whittaker out in less than two rounds in the first meeting. This time, Adesanya insists that his underrated grappling will be his edge over his opponent.

Heading into the rematch, Adesanya feels Whittaker is devaluing his ground game. However, 'The Last Stylebender' vows 'The Reaper' will be in for the toughest grappling match of his career. In a recent appearance on The Megan Anderson Show, he said:

“I think he’s underestimating my grappling so I look forward to exchanging with him in that part of martial arts because he never felt me the first time in the clinch or on the grapple and [he can talk to] everyone you can go talk to [Derek] Brunson and ask him what I feel like in the clinch so I look forward to exchanging with him, I look forward to scrambling with him here and I like that look in their eyes when they realize what they’re in for. Same thing in the first fight when they realize ‘oh s–t he is as good as he says he is.’ So [I] look forward to him feeling that when we grapple [and] when you exchange locks.”

Watch Adesanya's full interview below:

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Robert Whittaker insists Israel Adesanya will face a different fighter this time

Israel Adesanya is confident of prompting Robert Whittaker to commit the same mistake in their second showdown.

Whittaker, on the other hand, claims a different outcome is looming. According to 'The Reaper', he lost to Adesanya but has learned a lot and has "come out better" over time. In a recent interview with Yahoo Sports, Whittaker said:

“Mate, I’m in a completely different headspace now than I was then," Whittaker stressed. "I’ve been in this game a long time and with that comes change and evolution. Sometimes, the process isn’t clean and I’m only human at the end of the day. That was the catalyst I needed to happen for me to make some changes to get myself better. And I’m glad it happened because I certainly have come out better.”