I have already said in other threads I see a late 3rd round/early 4th round stoppage for Whittaker, and nothing I have seen since then really makes me reconsider that. A shopworn 36 year-old WW rolled off the couch in 10 days and took Khamzat to the final bell. If anything, the more I think about it, the more confident I become in my gut instinct.
Looking at Khamzat's resume, Robert is by far the most experienced fighter he's ever faced. My prediction is quite similar to
@RockyLockridge 's but I am not convinced that Khamzat waits until the second round to blow his load. I suspect Khamzat blitzes hard and fast because the longer the fight goes, the more it works to Robert's advantage.
- Khamzat has never seen a single championship round. Robert's fought 10 of them against Romero, Till, Gastelum, and Adesanya.
- Robert is only 3 years older than Khamzat, but has been fighting the top who's who of MW for almost a decade now.
Khamzat is explosive, world-class grappler, he'a aggressive, strong... I get all that. Absolutely more dangerous than a puncher's chance. He seems settled in at 185 now, so he should be able to manage cuts easier and come into the cage feeling 100%. It would be awesome if Khamzat did live up to the hype of an absolute killer who fights a lot, that's a win-win for everyone, but there are levels to this and Khamzat's about to see that first hand.
Robert spent 50 minutes in a cage with Romero, I don't think Robert's panicking. His own wrestling is legit, and he is a BJJ black belt.
I just don't see Robert being dumb enough to get trapped in a wild firefight out of the gate or get caught moving in straight lines, and Robert does have decent fight IQ. The patient fighter will win this one.
If Rakic, Max and Robert play spoilers...