Probably a good chance that wasn't Whittaker at his best

[MescalineDreams]

Just watching the fight

Right off the bat It seems like there's a clear difference In the way he's moving, his timing, etc. His body language would Indicate that he's not quite as confident as he's been In the past as well.

He did jump In quite fast after the knee Injury, perhaps It would've been wise to take a bit more time

Anyways, I haven't watched the whole fight yet. Just something I noticed right away. Something just seem a bit "off" In his energy relative to what I've seen of him in the past.

 

[Reign009]

He seemed fine until he broke his hand and got hit really really hard by Yoel.

If anything, Yoel seemed off.

 

[Kleinschuster]

Just watching the fight

Right off the bat It seems like there's a clear difference In the way he's moving, his timing, etc. His body language would Indicate that he's not quite as confident as he's been In the past as well.

He did jump In quite fast after the knee Injury, perhaps It would've been wise to take a bit more time

Anyways, I haven't watched the whole fight yet. Just something I noticed right away. Something just seem a bit "off" relative to what I've seen of him in the past.

He broke his thumb in the first. XRays already confirmed.

 

[MescalineDreams]

He seemed fine until he broke his hand and got hit really really hard by Yoel.

If anything, Yoel seemed off.

Still watching. Haven't gotten that far In the fight yet.

It was just my initial Impression. I tend to judge a lot of these things based on energy, vibe, movement and timing, etc.

 

[PROlogic]

He seemed fine until he broke his hand and got hit really really hard by Yoel.

If anything, Yoel seemed off.

Are you trolling?

Whittaker broke his hand in the first round

Romero didn't "hit him hard" until round 3

 

[JJSBUR]

Broken hand will do that to ya.

 

[MescalineDreams]

He broke his thumb in the first. XRays already confirmed.

I see. I don't know If It's that though. It just seems like there's a certain "fire" that's missing, I dunno. It's weird.

I'll keep watching

 

[Reign009]

Are you trolling?

Whittaker broke his hand in the first round

Romero didn't "hit him hard" until round 3

What is your point?

 

[emax]

I see. I don't know If It's that though. It just seems like there's a certain "fire" that's missing, I dunno. It's weird.

I'll keep watching

It might be the mind playing tricks on you. Sometimes it happens when you see these guys rise to the upper echelons. Whittaker's last two fights were against one of the most frightful MMA competitors we've ever seen in the sport. His reluctance to make it a bull fight, given how monstrously powerful Romero is as a striker and grappler, could be interpreted as having lost some of his drive. And then there was the broken hand - he does seem to have had some unfortunate timing getting these injuries in fights vs Romero - and the staph infection recovery. All this can combine together along with what's in your head to distort your view.

 

[venivedivici]

Excuses

 

[Kleinschuster]

I see. I don't know If It's that though. It just seems like there's a certain "fire" that's missing, I dunno. It's weird.

I'll keep watching

Have you ever broken sth? It's amazing he fought with it...

 

[FlyingDeathKick]

Torn knee in the first fight, broken hand in the second fight.. What's next? A torn vagina in the trilogy fight?

 

[josh345]

Romero had one eye though. It seems like Whittaker is always injured too so you have to factor that in as well.

 

[maxi diablo]

Whittaker is getting old while Yoel is getting younger.

 

[Erratic]

I see. I don't know If It's that though. It just seems like there's a certain "fire" that's missing, I dunno. It's weird.

I'll keep watching

I know what you mean, I think the hand injury fucked him up a bit too much. He described it as his whole hand and arm feeling numb, so it perhaps took away his fire. What allows whittaker to destroy people is that fire and that whole 'im going to take your head off' vibe.

 

[Towerworld]

Just watching the fight

Right off the bat It seems like there's a clear difference In the way he's moving, his timing, etc. His body language would Indicate that he's not quite as confident as he's been In the past as well.

He did jump In quite fast after the knee Injury, perhaps It would've been wise to take a bit more time

Anyways, I haven't watched the whole fight yet. Just something I noticed right away. Something just seem a bit "off" In his energy relative to what I've seen of him in the past.

Nope his combinations and kicks were better than we've ever seen, he was striking with more confidence than the first fight.

But he broke his thumb in the middle of the fight and it started going downhill.