Robert Whittaker may be on one of the best runs in all of MMA right now, but Israel Adesanya says the UFC champ has some holes in his game.
Lately there’s been a lot of talk about the middleweights fighting in the not too distant future, following Adesanya’s impressive, stoppage win over Derek Brunson at UFC 230. That victory was “The Last Stylebender’s” fourth straight with the promotion, and it moved the vaunted striker’s MMA record to 15-0.
In recent weeks, Adesanya has been pushing for a showdown with Whittaker, and that’s continued since his latest victory. While talking to FOX Sports Australia recently, Adesanya had this to say about the middleweight champ:
“Then I beat him wherever I want,” Adesanya said, when asked about the possibility of facing Whittaker.
“If I’m being frank, Rob is lacking defensively and that’s where I’ll take him. And I can do that anyway I want.
“I know he’s a fighter who wants to go out there and bust people up, but I’m not a guy you mess with.
“And once I’m champion, there will be a lot more eyes on this division. I’m the guy making s… happen.”
Now, some Whittaker supporters might take issue with Adesanya’s comments here. After all, we are talking about a guy who has won nine straight fights, and who has defeated top-tier 185’ers like Yoel Romero, “Jacare” Souza, Brad Tavares and Brunson along the way. It is true, however, that Whittaker has taken some big shots in some of those fights, particularly in his bouts with Romero.
So, when you consider Adesanya possesses a very comprehensive, unorthodox and dangerous striking game, it would be extremely interesting to see how Whittaker would look to counter it. It is worth noting that the champ also defeated Uriah Hall, who is another, explosive striker. Not to mention he’s defeated Romero twice, who while being a world class wrestler, also has ridiculous power and somewhat funky striking.
But, for the time being, all this talk about Whittaker – Adesanya is premature. Recently the UFC confirmed that Whittaker is going to fight Kelvin Gastelum on February 10th in Melbourne, Australia. So, by the time the 185 belt is on the line again, we could be talking about summer, 2019. As a result, Adesanya also confirmed in the aforementioned interview that in a recent meeting with Dana White, they “reached an agreement” on how his next opponent should be.