Is ANYONE picking Whitaker FTW?

[TRUS8888]

I want him to win but I just can't pick him.

The way he lunges into his strikes makes him look like dog shit and is the perfect opportunity for Izzy to counter. Izzy himself isn't some kind of destroyer, he has been in some extremely cautious and boring fights and he'll probably continue to do so unless his opponents brings the fight to him.

Whitaker's attitude still seems to be the same imo. I'm not convinced he's made massive changes to his mentality. He seemed really relieved to lose the belt and wasn't asking for a rematch until it was basically unavoidable. I still think he doesn't like the pressure and doesn't want to be in the spotlight.

 

[Vampire life]

Robert would need to fight a perfect fight mixing in TD to get the win IMO

the formula is sort of there @ the Jan fight

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Agreed but Bibby is a natural mw who doesn't cut and Izzy got to his feet with 225lb Jan on top of him, so I don't see that as a path - plus Marvin is a good wrestler and he couldn't hold him down either
How does he get inside is the key. Whitaker has good kicks but he can't reach Izzy unless it's on a counter and I don't see Israel moving forward like that

 

[ArmenianAssasin]

.
Agreed but Bibby is a natural mw who doesn't cut and Izzy got to his feet with 225lb Jan on top of him, so I don't see that as a path - plus Marvin is a good wrestler and he couldn't hold him down either
How does he get inside is the key. Whitaker has good kicks but he can't reach Izzy unless it's on a counter and I don't see Israel moving forward like that

I generally agree with you - its going to be extremely difficult to do

but I think its better than the just stand and trade with him strategy he used in the first fight - if nothing else threatening / trying the take down might open up striking a little bit

 

[TPMR]

I'm not and neither is 95% of Sherdog staff. I rewatched the first fight last night . He got tagged every time he lunged in and with a 7 inch reach disadvantage , I don't see any path to victory for him . Izzy just sit on the outside and kickbox him into Bolivian again.
Anyone picking Whitaker?

Gyno will be getting knocked out cold by whittaker

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

He isn't going to win without wrestling. It just depends how successfully he can time his shots and how worried he can make Izzy about it.

In the 1st fight he just tried to kickbox Izzy even though you wouldn't see any high level kickboxer in Glory with Whittaker's body type. He has the build of a well rounded athlete so he needs to be well rounded.

what? what does his body type have to do with it?

 

[Bojka]

what? what does his body type have to do with it?

It has a lot to do with it. There's a reason why Israel and Pereira both look like kickboxers. Whittaker doesn't. Like that quote from Rocky 4, Whittaker doesn't have the genetics to win a pure kickboxing match with Izzy. He needs to wrestle or at least threaten with it.

 

[Vampire life]

I have a feeling he is going to do better this fight. Adesanya is still the favorite, but I think Whittaker is going to surprise people even if he doesn't end up winning. If he catches Adesanya slippin' tonight he may be able to find a way to finish him. I think he'll come in more measured this time around with better boxing combinations and entries and will try and mix in the wrestling/takedowns.

The first fight is fresh in my head he tried to be measured in that fight and got his lead leg destroyed by the end of the first Rd. Izzy cracked him in the calf from both sides at least a dozen times. She he got tired of the kicks, he got frustrated and started lunging. He was hitting Izzy but they didn't have that sting in the strikes . He hit him flush a couple times but got countered nearly every time .
7 inches of reach is very hard to overcome Stihl a dude who is fast like a snake and a diverse, talented striker .
If knuckles loses in a bad way, I could see him taking time off or retiring

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

It has a lot to do with it. There's a reason why Israel and Pereira both look like kickboxers. Whittaker doesn't. Like that quote from Rocky 4, Whittaker doesn't have the genetics to win a pure kickboxing match with Izzy. He needs to wrestle or at least threaten with it.

why because he's shorter? i can't believe it's 2022 and that's still a thing. have you ever seen Mike Zambidis? Andy Hug? Whittaker can't kickbox with Adesanya because he's not a defensively sound striker, it has nothing to do with is body.

 

[Vampire life]

I don't even believe that Bobby can get close enough for a single or a double.. I always like Whitaker , he's very humble and gracious but he's on the edge of career explosion

 

[Vampire life]

why because he's shorter? i can't believe it's 2022 and that's still a thing. have you ever seen Mike Zambidis? Andy Hug? Whittaker can't kickbox with Adesanya because he's not a defensively sound striker, it has nothing to do with is body.

He's giving up 7 inches of reach. That's genetics

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

He's giving up 7 inches of reach. That's genetics

so what? you can overcome that with SKILL. like i said, have you never seen Andy Hug? Mike Zambidis? Semmy Schilt getting knocked out by Gilbert Yvel or Badr Hari? or how about when Kelvin Gastelum gave Adesanya all he could handle?

Whittaker's defensive striking skills aren't high enough to overcome it, you don't need genetics to overcome that.

 

[Stump]

I'm not and neither is 95% of Sherdog staff. I rewatched the first fight last night . He got tagged every time he lunged in and with a 7 inch reach disadvantage , I don't see any path to victory for him . Izzy just sit on the outside and kickbox him into Bolivian again.
Anyone picking Whitaker?

Hwell. I'm not picking him, but I think whitty-izzy 1 was maybe the clearest example of a fighter falling in love with a game plan that didn't work and refusing or being unable to adjust it.

He clearly figured lunging in behind the jab was the way to do it and it clearly wasn't.

Stands to reason he won't do that again this fight.

But maybe that's not good, maybe Whittaker used that strategy because he knew he was gonna get picked apart if be didn't.

Either way, I expect a better showing from Rob.

 

[Vampire life]

so what? you can overcome that with SKILL. like i said, have you never seen Andy Hug? Mike Zambidis? Semmy Schilt getting knocked out by Gilbert Yvel or Badr Hari?

Yes. But Israel is on a different level of striking than anyone in your list .

 

[Vampire life]

Hwell. I'm not picking him, but I think whitty-izzy 1 was maybe the clearest example of a fighter falling in love with a game plan that didn't work and refusing or being unable to adjust it.

He clearly figured lunging in behind the jab was the way to do it and it clearly wasn't.

Stands to reason he won't do that again this fight.

But maybe that's not good, maybe Whittaker used that strategy because he knew he was gonna get picked apart if be didn't.

Either way, I expect a better showing from Rob.

Watch the fight again. He WAS getting picked apart. You can literally see him getting frustrated and start to lunge.

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

Yes. But Israel is on a different level of striking than anyone in your list .

uhh no he's not. Semmy Schilt is a 5 time K-1 champion buddy. and like i said, Kelvin Gastelum gave Adesanya all he could handle with even more of a disadvantage. Romero fought an even fight with him and he's the same as Whittaker. the difference is that those 2 guys had better striking defensive skills than Whittaker.

 

[Vampire life]

uhh no he's not. Semmy Schilt is a 5 time K-1 champion buddy. and like i said, Kelvin Gastelum gave Adesanya all he could handle with even more of a disadvantage. Romero fought an even fight with him and he's the same as Whittaker. the difference is that those 2 guys had better striking defensive skills than Whittaker.

Ill bite. Schit was oversized and skinny. He sheer length changed fight game plans . Gas fought the best fight of his life that fight and hasn't duplicated it since - and when he got Izzy hurt, instead of pounding him against the cage, he went for a very bad decision to try a td
Schit Skilled? Yes, but that era of combat is nothing like today's guys .
I don't think this fight makes it out the 2nd Rd, I see a TKO on Whitaker by headkick. Just my op

 

[Bojka]

so what? you can overcome that with SKILL. like i said, have you never seen Andy Hug? Mike Zambidis? Semmy Schilt getting knocked out by Gilbert Yvel or Badr Hari? or how about when Kelvin Gastelum gave Adesanya all he could handle?

Whittaker's defensive striking skills aren't high enough to overcome it, you don't need genetics to overcome that.

Gastelum threatened with wrestling.

 

[JonJonesNeedle]

Whittaker is gonna finish Titysanya

 

[Todd498]

I think Rob can hold his own with the stick insect in the stand up. Just needs to use his head and not gun sling so much. The takedown will eventually come. Now is Robs ground game on par with Jans??? Don’t know

 

[Todd498]

Whittaker is gonna finish Titysanya

I hope! And hopefully it’s brutal