Adesanya Barely Survived Against a 170lb Wrestler

[JonnyboyATL]

Robert Whittaker is a 170 lb striker who lost to and almost got killed by a middle-aged wrestler.

Israel sparks him in a pure striking fight.

Only realistic path for victory for Robert is to mix it up and use offensive wrestling.

Something tells me that Robert is a much better wrestler than most of us have imagined.

Plus Stephen Thompson sparked him. At least Adesanya beat the last Welterweight he fought.

 

[Miiiiiiighty]

Styles makes fights.
But Adesanya has to be the most overrated active UFC fighter at this point.
I don't see his " era " lasting at all even if he beats Whittaker ( which I doubt )

 

[The Half Blood Prince]

Robert Whittaker is a 170 lb striker who lost to and almost got killed by a middle-aged wrestler.

Israel sparks him in a pure striking fight.

Only realistic path for victory for Robert is to mix it up and use offensive wrestling.

Something tells me that Robert is a much better wrestler than most of us have imagined.

yeah he did nullify Romero's wrestling game in both their fights so....

 

[Chart69r]

Plus Stephen Thompson sparked him. At least Adesanya beat the last Welterweight he fought.

So did Whitaker, he won his last fight at WW vs Mike Rhodes

 

[ApplesVild]

What do you think Whitaker is gonna do to him? This is gonna be one of the most lopsided beat downs we have ever seen.

Whittaker didn't survive against a 170lbs striker, so....

 

[Iron Nick]

The "Gastelum is a blown up wrestler"-narrative is still at play?

Gastelum might be a bit chubby, but belongs at mw just like Whittaker and Adesanya do.
He's also amongst the best strikers at his weightclass, especially boxing-wise and is very good and fast at closing the distance while also avoiding getting hit.
To say that KG is a wrestler at this point is almost as wrong as saying Justin Gaethje is a wrestler.

 

[Franklin U.]

What do you think Whitaker is gonna do to him? This is gonna be one of the most lopsided beat downs we have ever seen.

I hope your right - I'll be rooting for knuckles but opening and current betting line tells a different story ( not that Vegas is always right.... especially this sport but theyve now gotten a handle on opening lines/mma which can speak volumes in certain fights).
Izzy also seems to evolve everytime we see him . IDK, have no prediction for fight but I'll be ,again, rooting for Robert.

 

[Steve Fox]

Gastelum did a mistake during the 4th, decided to clinch instead of going for the finish. Kelvin is legit af and Adesanya is nothing to play with too. Whittaker is awesome too, this will be one hell of a fight.

 

[GoshiShun17]

I agree with your overall premise but KG is a slick/elusive/striker with quick hands and power or maybe we watched a different fight.KG isn't sloppy...

Anyone saying Kelvin was sloppy or still underrating him after that fight needs to go on Youtube and watch one of the breakdowns so they can understand what they were witnessing. Not only was that one of the GOAT fights, it was one of the best striking chess matches we've seen in MMA from a technical standpoint.

 

[Dmac07]

Wasn't he like the Australian equivalent of an all American in wrestling?

Yeah he won the Australian title at 206lbs in wrestling. Could be representing Australia at Com Games or Olympics.

Yes, Australian wrestling is not great, but for a guy that didnt grow up doing it, and competed in his spare time that is seriously impressive!

 

[Do better]

What do you think Whitaker is gonna do to him? This is gonna be one of the most lopsided beat downs we have ever seen.

When speaking of Gastelum who is a 185 boxer/wrestler as though he is a WW which somehow diminishes his ability then make sure you mention Whittaker being a WW. Gastelum was more successful at WW too

 

[Harlekin]

Adesanya is 6'3 and had major problems landing his jab on 5'9 Gastelum. He only established it after 4 rounds when Gastelum was dead tired.
His distance control is horrible.
Not a fan of him and his gay antics.

 

[Iron Nick]

Anyone saying Kelvin was sloppy or still underrating him after that fight needs to go on Youtube and watch one of the breakdowns so they can understand what they were witnessing. Not only was that one of the GOAT fights, it was one of the best striking chess matches we've seen in MMA from a technical standpoint.

/thread

But for real, glad you're mentioning this, there's been all sorts of remarkable striking tactics/skills involved in that fight.
The analysis by Luke Thomas really shows that.

 

[Unfinished Sentenc]

Brunson is a 185 wrestler, i think Gastelum is just way better than many other 185ers

 

[electricfuneral]

gastellum is a bad dude. Hard fight for anybody.

 

[markg171]

Israel knocked down Gastelum like 6 times lol.

It was a tale of Gastelum showing heart that kept him in that fight.

 

[Enigma87]

What do you think Whitaker is gonna do to him? This is gonna be one of the most lopsided beat downs we have ever seen.

Rumble got choked out by welterweights Koscheck and Clementi. What would guys like lil nog and Glover Teixeira do to him?

 

[0verlord]

Let's not kid ourselves. He got matched up favorably so far and it's a matter of time before the hype dies. I doubt he would take a Romero/Costa fight tho after he gets his shit pushed in by uncle knuckles.

 

[TheLastEmperorReurns]

Eh

I do think its a little absurd that izzy acts like he has ran thru everyone when he was seconds away from getting finished multiple times by a guy throwing sloppy overhands all night lol.

Kelvin was throwing straight 1-2’s from southpaw position.

It’s prime Victor-esque and for all his supposed lack of technical brilliance he compensates with ridiculous speed that dropped Weidman, Belfort, Tim Kennedy, etc.

 

[capnlarge]

I hate this argument because Gastelum is definitely better at 185 than he ever was at 170. Like he was nowhere near a title shot at WW. Plus, Gastelum had a hard time making 170, so it's a little disingenuous to consider 170 his weight class.

Adesanya is a special talent and he gets better every fight