Is Whittaker going to make the fight with Izzy more competitive than last time?

[TempleoftheDog]

As much as it pains me, my official prediction is Izzy by decision. Cheering for Whittaker 100%, but it’s hard to ignore their first fight. I hope Whittaker and his team were able to cook up a good gameplan since then. They’ve both fought 3 times since then. And Izzy has indeed lost in the meantime. I’m just not sure anybody at MW can follow the blueprint that Jan gave them. But if Whittaker can mix in the takedowns, he has a chance to win his belt back.

May the best fighter win, without controversy. I think this might be another snoozer point fight by Izzy. But if Whittaker can win by any fair means, I’ll take it.

 

[djason1988]

It'll most certainly be more competitive, but only because their last fight was so horribly lopsided. Whittaker comes in more measured and technical, but still gets styled on by a vastly superior striker with a significant reach advantage.

 

[Mga223]

I mean can it go any worse than last time?

 

[Quietus]

It will be more competitive but Rob is just at a big size/reach disadvantage here, and can't do the things he's able to do to most guys his own size. Izzy has the height/reach/frame of a 205er and Rob has fought at 170.. it just feels like Rob can't even reach Izzy's chin very well because of his size + movement, and would have to catch Izzy off balance or out of position to land clean shots.

I'd make a comparison (not in style, but size) to DC vs Jon Jones, DC had the skills but was at such a disadvantage in there being 5'10 and fighting a dude who's 6'5 with a 7-8" longer reach. That punch-punch-highkick combo Rob likes to do, Izzy will see coming a mile away, so he needs to bring new stuff to the table. Rob's best bet is making it a boring grappling match to negate the height/reach difference and not let it a kickboxing match this time.

 

[jk7707]

No.

Look, someone, anyone, give me a single reason why/how Bob can beat Izzy? Sincere request.

What? Is he gonna take him down for vicious g&p? He’s no Jan. You think Ngannou improved his ground game? Watch. Verdict: Unlikely.

Vicious, non-stop leg kicks? Lol. Izzy has 80+ kickboxing matches. Verdict: Unlikely.

Oh, wait … “Bob’s just gotten better, so …” You think Izzy hasn’t? Verdict: Unlikely.

Ok, so he might “catch” him. While his arms are too short, this may be his only possible chance: Izzy swaying back and forth like he does and he gets caught with one. Then we’ll all see how good his chin is. My guess is it’s good enough. Verdict: Possible.

Izzy is so far ahead of Bob that whatever improvements he’s made to close the gap won’t mean squat in the final analysis. At best, Bob survives 2-3 rounds before finally getting KFTO; at worst he loses by an unequivocally unanimous decision.

Rob patiently point fights for 2-3 rounds and keeps it close. Then switches it up with his wrestling to steal a few rounds spending a lot of time in top control. Seems a realistic path to victory for him.

 

[Aurelian]

Israel by KO first round

 

[Vampire life]

Whitaker is too small for stylebender. He won't get close to impose his cliche and inside game. The whole reason he was reaching so bad on the first fight is because he doesn't have the reach and won't be able to get inside. He's going to get smoked on a counter again and drop to ww where he belongs

 

[Vampire life]

Where is this bullshit narrative coming from that Izzy "dominated"
Whittaker was winning the first round till the very last second. Izzy dominated in 2 sequences.

I think izzy wins this fight but people need to rewatch the first fight.

Lol.whens the last time you watched that fight. He had no chance. Dropped in the first, knocked tf out in the 2nd

 

[JKS]

Lol.whens the last time you watched that fight. He had no chance. Dropped in the first, knocked tf out in the 2nd

He's actually right, the fight was a lot more competitive than people remember. You just pointed out the exact problem here that people only recall the knockdown and KO finish. I just watched the fight and it actually was competitive, Rob was gonna get the 1st round on the scorecards till Izzy landed the counter and knockdown with like 1 second left. Round 2 was more of the same, just with a finish.

While Izzy was not in any danger and the shots weren't landing flush or doing damage, Rob was still touching Izzy and landing. It's not like Rob was getting outclassed the whole fight. Izzy just landed during two crucial exchanges that won him the fight. But with a better defensive effort and avoiding those counters, this fight has the potential to be a close decision.

 

[ayaandirtyboy]

if robert can take izzy down and keep him there then he could win by decision.

i dont see any other way he could win

 

[TheVenom]

Don’t think he can do much worse. Bobby was a champ for a reason, so I think he’ll make the right adjustments to make it competitive.

 

[MMAElite4]

closet homo will win a close controversial decision. DC will go fucking crazy on every feint he throws. thank god rogan getting cancelled out of ufc.

 

[Simple Southerner]

Excellent thread .


I -just hope its a fight of the year candidate.

 

[Broad Blade]

It seems Rob is confident in what he needed to learn from his first fight with Izzy. He's taken the more tactical approach, evidenced by his last 3 fights.

So 100 t/s...

 

[Cooliox]

I remember Whittaker getting the better of the exchanges, and clearly winning round 1 before rushing in and getting caught in the last 10 seconds.

Why are some people making it sound like he didn't belong in there?

 

[Busgosu]

Izzy gets this again. Even easier this time.

 

[Broad Blade]

I remember Whittaker getting the better of the exchanges, and clearly winning round 1 before rushing in and getting caught in the last 10 seconds.

Why are some people making it sound like he didn't belong in there?

Yo, that's right. I remember before the knock down at the end of the 1st round, I thought Rob won that round...

 

[chillyoo]

I think he can win the fight if he finds a way to get a TD out of an exchange or something. Izzy’s TDD is likely to good if he’s ready for the TD.

If he goes out there and reacts to every feint and tries to go toe to toe he will get lit up again. The first round was competitive and Rob was likely up and then got blasted with 3 seconds left, academic after that but it was more competitive than people lead on

 

[Sasha]

I predict something VERY unusual is gonna happen tonight.
I'm a psychic and a totally crazy man, you should trust me.

 

[MCS]

I think Izzy's the better striker and Rob's a striker himself, so big edge outside of gameplans to Izzy. Coaches can only plan so much, the skillsets say Adesanya wins again. But, the leaning back, the bad stuff. They can come up with a better plan than last time. But it's stepping into the heat.