Robert Whittaker has revealed his game plan ahead of his eagerly anticipated rematch with Israel Adesanya at UFC 271, which is set to take place on February 22 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
‘The Reaper’ is hoping to regain the middleweight title he lost to Adesanya at UFC 243 back in 2019. Whittaker admits that he was “unsatisfied” with how he performed in his last fight with ‘Stylebender’ and will adopt a different approach to ensure he gives a better account of himself next month.
“I want to utilize my complete skillset, “Whittaker told LowKickMMA. “You’ve seen in my recent fights I’ve truly adapted to MMA. I’ve been utilizing my wrestling and grappling. That’s more or less what I wanna do. I want to get on there and I want to utilize my complete skillset. I want to use my striking and if I see opportunities for takedowns, I want to take him down to the ground. I want to fight him on the ground. I want to make him uncomfortable because I’m very confident in my grappling. You know, if I can mix that in and give him different looks and give him different angles I think I can make him uncomfortable.
Robert Whittaker Vows To Give Israel Adesanya A Tough Fight
The 31-year-old isn’t sure how his rematch with ‘Stylebender’ will play out, but he is certain that he’ll make the UFC middleweight champ work hard for however long the fight lasts.
“I think it would be too presumptuous of me to say I’ll take him out,” Whittaker said. “I’m gonna give him a hard fight, let me tell you. I’m doing everything I can in preparation for this fight to get in there and give him a hard fight and give my all for it. Yeah, that’s the only thing I can bank on, (I’ll) give him a hard one.”
Do you think Robert Whittaker will be able to regain the middleweight title by beating Israel Adesanya at UFC 271?