Can Whittaker finish Adesanya once the fight hits the canvas?

MMA Gold head coach Jim West breaks down the middleweight title fight between Robert Whittaker and Israel Adesanya on Feb.12 at UFC 271.

Jim West on the grappling aspect of this matchup:

“Whittaker is a fantastic grappler and wrestler. Israel is very novice off his back. He just is. Now, getting him there is easier said than done. He does a pretty damn good job at controlling distance and getting back to his feet, at least lately he has been. Robert has to be able to implement those things. Hopefully, he can implement leg kicks against Adesanya. Even if it’s fake level changes a little bit to kinda open up some of those things. And he’s gotta try to put him against the cage. He’s gotta try to do those types of things. He’s not going to be able to stand on the outside and kickbox with Adesanya. He’s got too many advantages there. He’s gotta check his ego a little bit and realize where he has more of a guarantee to win the fight and that is in the grappling aspects. It is against the cage. He’s gotta try and make it an overall MMA fight.

“At the end of day it’s about winning and you have to try to put yourself in the best possible postitions to win in those areas in which you feel you have the closest thing to a guarantee of winning. And it’s gonna be in those grappling exchanges in the cage. In the cage grappling scenarios to make the cage small. If he can do that, he can win. It’s been shown Israel has a very, very glaring hole off of his back. And if he can put him there, I actually think it would be a relatively quick night if Robert can put him on his back. Easier said than done.

“Robert’s control and pressure is very good on top. His ability to control guys has been shown to be very, very good. And I don’t think he will have a problem controlling Izzy off his back. I don’t know if it will be a sub[mission] per se. A sub will probably open up because of what Robert has done with his hands when it’s on the mat.”

Watch this interview on The AllStar’s Youtube channel.

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Fighter profile

Israel “The Last Stylebender” Adesanya is a 32 year old male fighter from Nigeria with 21 pro wins and 1 losses. Adesanya is scheduled to fight Robert Whittaker at UFC 271: Adesanya vs. Whittaker 2 on Saturday February 12, 2022.

Adesanya’s recent form coming into this matchup

Adesanya has gone 4-1 in the last 5 professional MMA fights.

• Win vs Marvin Vettori • Decision R5 5:00 • 2021-06-12
• Loss vs Jan Błachowicz • Decision R5 5:00 • 2021-03-06
• Win vs Paulo Costa • KO/TKO R2 3:59 • 2020-09-26
• Win vs Yoel Romero • Decision R5 5:00 • 2020-03-07
• Win vs Robert Whittaker • KO/TKO R2 3:33 • 2019-10-05

Israel Adesanya’s next opponent: Robert “The Reaper” Whittaker

Robert “The Reaper” Whittaker’s recent form coming into this matchup

Whittaker is a 31 year old male fighter from Australia with 23 pro wins and 5 losses. Whittaker is scheduled to fight Israel Adesanya at UFC 271: Adesanya vs. Whittaker 2 on Saturday February 12, 2022.

Whittaker has gone 4-1 in the last 5 professional MMA fights.

• Win vs Kelvin Gastelum • Decision R5 5:00 • 2021-04-17
• Win vs Jared Cannonier • Decision R3 5:00 • 2020-10-24
• Win vs Darren Till • Decision R5 5:00 • 2020-07-25
• Loss vs Israel Adesanya • KO/TKO R2 3:33 • 2019-10-05
• Win vs Yoel Romero • Decision R5 5:00 • 2018-06-09

How to watch and bet on Israel Adesanya vs Robert Whittaker

Keep track of all the latest odds and line-movements at our bout page for this matchup.