This week, the UFC is set to deliver the best they have to offer in the middleweight division when middleweight champion Israel Adesanya will look to extend his title defense against former champ Robert Whittaker at UFC 271.
The UFC 271 showdown between two of the best middleweights in the world right now offers both the fighters something valuable. For The Last Stylebender, it’s a chance to extend his title defense to four fights and an inch closer to his idol and the best middleweight ever – Anderson Silva in most successful title defenses. As for The Reaper, he has a chance to reclaim his UFC gold from the man who stripped him of it.
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Israel “The Last Stylebender” Adesanya has been a treat to watch in the middleweight division and would’ve been 20-0 in MMA if he hadn’t taken a detour to the light heavyweight division where he lost to Jan Blachowicz which was his only professional MMA loss. Adesanya’s road to glory has been an impeccable one, defeating elite 185-pounders like Paulo Costa, Yoel Romero, Kelvin Gastelum, Derek Brunson, Marvin Vettori (twice), Anderson Silva, and Robert Whittaker.
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As for Robert “The Reaper” Whittaker, he has been exceptional inside the octagon since his KO defeat to Adesanya back in 2019. Since that defeat, Whittaker has been on a three-fight win streak defeating the likes of Darren Till, Jared Cannonier, and Kelvin Gastelum to maintain his spot as the #1 contender in the 185-pound category.
Prediction: Robert Whittaker to win via decision
Israel Adesanya | Robert Whittaker | |
35 | Age | 31 |
6'4" | Height | 6'0" |
Switch | Stance | Orthodox |
90" | Reach | 73" |
21 - 1 - 0 | Record | 24 - 5 - 0 |
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We feel like The Reaper is going to pull off the biggest upset at UFC 271. Last time out when these two fighters went head-to-head, Whittaker was coming off a 15-month layoff but this time out, he has been more active with this being the fourth fight since the last time they met.
Despite Adesanya having a massive reach and height advantage, we saw that Whittaker was the faster one of the two in the first fight but didn’t fight smart as he found himself on the canvas after 2 minutes of round 2. If Whittaker wants to take the title home, he needs to be patient and wait for Adesanya to make errors instead of going all out.
The first fight was contested solely on the feet and an interesting area to look out for is the grappling game. We saw Adesanya struggle against Jan Blachowicz in which he was taken down and held for the entire fight which comes off as an area of weakness for the New Zealander. On the other hand, we saw Whittaker utilize his wrestling skills and strong ground control against Kelvin Gastelum.
If Robert Whittaker manages to pick his shots patiently, mix in some grappling and drag the fight to the championship rounds, we believe he can score a decision victory but if Adesanya plays the patient game too and gets into Whittaker’s head so that he rushes again, Adesanya by KO is certainly in the books.
[Featured Image Credit: UFC]
Shashank Iyer