I can't wrap my head around Whittaker's strategy

[Swarthy]

This GIF is the perfect example why instead if giving crap to Whittaker we should give props to Adesanya.

Adasanya dodged that right hand by an hair, with his chin up, don't pretend that being in exchanges like that is a smart tactic for most of other fighters in mma, Adesanya is a ninja.
Then Whittaker was half a second late with his hook and got cracked.

Whittaker is a lot shorter, to get Adesanya he needs to take risks, I don't see any other way he could fight differently, seems Adesanya has his number.

solid post man I agree. But I still think sticking with his normal in out style was not a good game plan.

 

[The Half Blood Prince]

that's so easy to say after the fight when you know what the outcome was.

Even Rob's coach even said something similar to what I just said. Rob fought his best and got clipped it happens

 

[Po]

At the time of the fight I thought Whittaker looked fine, but after seeing these gifs of the finish holy shit. Wtf was he thinking in that exchange? Swinging wildly with his hands down like he's just asking to get ko'd by a counterstriker.

Almost looks fixed

 

[TheChosenOne]

Whittaker's strategy - I'm going to be a dumb cunt and continuously strike with a much better striker and hopefully end up getting stopped just like DC because I must join his club of being a low IQ motherfucker and not use any grappling what so ever. Forget being undefeated like Khabib when you can instead go out with a bang and another loss and lose your belt doing so...

 

[GoshiShun17]

Round 1 was even until the knockdown. Not sure why people act as if it was one sided from the start due to strategy.

Israel was more in control even in round 1. Look at the stats and if you can rewatch it. Rob wasn't having as much success as it may have seemed.

 

[GoshiShun17]

Gastelum did the same thing only he has an iron chin so eventually he took enough to land some big ones of his own. He was swinging and missing a lot early in the fight but eventually landed. Rob didnt have the chin to survive that long. I think that last fight with Romero changed him forever. I wouldnt say he was throwing bad punches either. They had good velocity on them and he was throwing 2s and 3s followed by high kicks with both legs. I reckon those shots would have touched other guys. He was trying to catch Israel with anything he could but Izzys angles and defensive instincts kept him just out of the way where he countered the fuck out of Rob. With that said I dont think Rob did anything wrong I feel like either guy could have been KOd in some of those exchanges.

Gastelum DID NOT do the same thing. Israel actually had trouble landing clean on Gastelum as he was slipping punches. It has nothing to do with who has a better chin. Gastelum showed better technique for the situation.

 

[Hirashin]

Come on TS, his team knows what they are doing. Fatselum landed a lot, they tried to copy him.

 

[Zaar]

I just watched the fight. Seems like Whittaker tried to force his way to (T)KO and victory.
Awesome defense by Adesanya, good fight.
I like Whittaker, really thought he might be too much for Adesanya, but was proved wrong.
Hope he bounces while I look forward to see more of the same from Israel

 

[IsNormal]

His strategy was probably to force Israel to play defence, and not let him rest and get into his groove.
Whittaker is very fast and can cover a lot of distance in a short amount of time - so it wasn't that silly of a gameplan to think that he could catch Izzy if he rushed him.

That being said - he did it all too often, once Izzy knew these rushes were coming it was easy to evade them.

 

[The Legendary Scarface]

that's so easy to say after the fight when you know what the outcome was.

Even Rob's coach even said something similar to what I just said. Rob fought his best and got clipped it happens

Nonsense. Rob was reckless. Not his best. I take nothing away from Izzy though, hats off.

 

[The Legendary Scarface]

I just watched the fight. Seems like Whittaker tried to force his way to (T)KO and victory.
Awesome defense by Adesanya, good fight.
I like Whittaker, really thought he might be too much for Adesanya, but was proved wrong.
Hope he bounces while I look forward to see more of the same from Israel

How do you see Costa vs Izzy going?
Curious to hear your opinion, you seem reasonable.

 

[JKS]

Consider this,
If you asked some random "tough guy" off the street to get inside a cage and fight Adesanya, he'd probably go in there and attempt the same thing that Bobby attempted.

.... Lunging hooks and wild over hands.

As someone who considers Whittaker to be a great champion and a fighter with very good fight IQ, how is it possible that with months to prepare, that's what him and his team came up with?

I cannot wrap my head around that or understand at all.

And, he came out immediately in rd 1 fighting like that, so it wasn't some spontaneous adjustment or impulsive decision he just made. Plus, neither Bobby or his team said anything about him going away from the gameplan or not listening so it's fair to assume that was deliberately the gameplan his coaches came up with.

No hate but that has got to be one of the worst game plans in UFC Title Fight History and I don't understand it.

What say you Sherbros...what the fuck? How? Why?!

PS - Not taking anything away from Izzy, while I don't like the dude, he put on a masterclass performance, hats off to him he was spectacular. This is about Whittaker's gameplan though.

Don't look at it so much as what Robert did wrong but was Izzy did right. That will pretty solve this dilemma.

 

[The Legendary Scarface]

Don't look at it so much as what Robert did wrong but was Izzy did right. That will pretty solve this dilemma.

I gave him his props, he was spectacular no doubt. Rob was reckless though.

 

[minute bull]

He sure wrapped his head around Izzy's fist tho.

 

[7th]

Yeah, been wondering the same myself.

And his post-fight interviews where he claims he wouldn't have done anything any different if he could do it again.

His interviews before the fight he said if Kelvin gastelum was able to touch isreal, hed be able to do it better.

Is it that simple? Did Rob just figure he'd replicate what he saw Kelvin do , but do it better and win?

Seems rather crazy to me. No wrestling attempts? No body work? No leg kicks?

Just lunging jabs followed by hooks?

Probably. He just underestimated Adesanya. Figured if Gastelum did that well, he could do even better.

 

[Black Blood]

I think the moment got to Whittaker. He's been out of action for a long time, fighting in front of the largest crowd in UFC history, in his home country. Instead of trying to be patient he wanted to get the big, quick finish. Maybe if Izzy was a little worse Whittaker might have found a way to calm down but that didn't happen.

 

[Zaar]

How do you see Costa vs Izzy going?
Curious to hear your opinion, you seem reasonable.

Might be somewhat the same, who knows, tbh.
Israel proved to be much better, at least vs Whittaker, than I originally thought.

I'd like to see (even) more pressure from Costa, compared to Whittaker, if nothing else but to see how Israel reacts and adjusts.
Will be a good fight, I think

 

[Stump]

Probably. He just underestimated Adesanya. Figured if Gastelum did that well, he could do even better.

Sure seemed like it, eh?

 

[Stump]

Might be somewhat the same, who knows, tbh.
Israel proved to be much better, at least vs Whittaker, than I originally thought.

I'd like to see (even) more pressure from Costa, compared to Whittaker, if nothing else but to see how Israel reacts and adjusts.
Will be a good fight, I think

But pressure - how? You think Costa will use the same strategy, leaping in behind a power jab to set up the power hooks?

 

[Stump]

Gastelum DID NOT do the same thing. Israel actually had trouble landing clean on Gastelum as he was slipping punches. It has nothing to do with who has a better chin. Gastelum showed better technique for the situation.

Better head movement and risk of hard counters in the pocket, specifically. yeah?