Robert Whittaker vs. Alex Pereira - Who wins?

[TheNewOldGuy]

Whittaker by GnP or Sub.

Alex is just a fish out of water on the ground and Whittaker is very well rounded.

Also Whittaker doesn't have a mental health problem like Strickland, so he won't attempt to keep it standing to prove something. Whittaker is smart and Poatan is pretty slow compared to Izzy. D1 Whittaker shows up and wins the belt

 

[Ibm]

Alex convincingly.

 

[dominion]

Alex chops out Rob's leg in the first 10 seconds. Jabs to a knockdown. Rob eventually gets a couple of takedowns but doesn't finish. Then Alex finds a place for that hook. Rob panic wrestles and catches a knee. Tko 4th.

 

[is a]

I think Alex's attention of timing is good enough that he can time a kick or a knee to a Whittaker takendown attempt, which at that point could be game over.

Main difference is that Poatan favours aggressive striking and instead of Whittaker worrying about counters that can KO him in a flash, the two fighters would probably clash against one another...

And anything can happen

Especially after when you realize that blocking a high kick can actually break Cannonier's forearm. It was pretty much GG after that.

But it's not like Whittaker eating a random knee during a takedown attempt isnt there either.

 

[HeffDoesWant]

I'd bet on the underdog.

It's close.

How Alex lasts after a few grappling heavy rounds is yet to be seen. Obviously he could get the KO, but I think the difference in grappling is roughly equal to the difference in striking.

 

[ChimRichalds]

Because he would be panic wrestling after he gets into an exchange with Alex, obviously. Not all wrestling is panic wrestling but that's the kind I assume Robert would be forced to do if he didn't finish him early on because we all see he can carry that power into later rounds.

If Michailidis and Izzy can have grappling success against Alex, I have no doubt Whittaker would as well. No panic involved. It's always possible that Alex puts him out, but I'm pretty confident Bobby grinds him out if they fight.

 

[TheBrownGosling]

I want Rob to win and I think he’s easily more well rounded but the size difference would be ridiculous.

 

[Paul E Gensinger]

Rob would have the same problem Izzy did in that he ain't finishing Alex. Rob goes to decisions too much. He hurts guys sure but doesn't put them away.

Alex is a Terminator and while Rob would have grappling success no reason to believe he'd get a GNP stoppage or submission.

If Cannonier's jab is rocking you like that imagine Alex's? In that fight Cannonier gave him a lot of trouble with the leg kick too as did Izzy. Alex would chew it up with how heavy on the lead foot Rob is.

Darren Till also rocked Bobby and obviously Izzy did too. Till is important because his grappling is absolute dogshit. As sus as Alex's grappling is I can't imagine it's much worse than Darren's

Alex finds the KO..

Wrestling

 

[Pilo]

Tough one to call, but I love to think that this is a better matchup for Whittaker than Izzy was, but I may be delusional…I still think Poatan is new in MMA, and Whittaker’s skillset is so well-rounded, it could create problems for him. I’d love to see this match, and obviously the outcome of Saturday’s title fight has opened the door for Whittaker to sneak back into the title picture, which is awesome.

 

[asdf122345]

Whittaker cause alex tdd is very bad.

 

[JudoThrowFiasco]

I'd favor Rob if he could implement his wrestling.

That being said, Rob loves that hip wide open side step left hook which leaves him VERY vulnerable to a left hook counter. Alex would absolutely obliterate that opening

 

[StonedLemur]

Lol at this being so close

Closest vote that I can remember seeing sir.

 

[JonJonesNeedle]

I think Alex would KO Rob. Rob does have a chance at winning via laynpray, but to do that successfully for 5 rounds? We saw Alex's power carry over to the fifth round.

Rob struggles with high level strikers. He got starched by WB and Izzy 1, and Till gave him a very tough fight.

 

[Contempt]

Hopefully Poontang gets past Izzy again so we can find out.

Edit: I know his nickname is Poatan but I thought it was hilarious that my phone autocorrected it to poontang so I'm leaving it like that LOL

 

[thewhiterooster]

I'd like to see more of pereira's take down defense skill level. that would determine it

 

[Fruitsaladsushi]

Robs getting slept

 

[Mr Fahrenheit]

Rob would have the same problem Izzy did in that he ain't finishing Alex. Rob goes to decisions too much. He hurts guys sure but doesn't put them away.

Alex is a Terminator and while Rob would have grappling success no reason to believe he'd get a GNP stoppage or submission.

If Cannonier's jab is rocking you like that imagine Alex's? In that fight Cannonier gave him a lot of trouble with the leg kick too as did Izzy. Alex would chew it up with how heavy on the lead foot Rob is.

Darren Till also rocked Bobby and obviously Izzy did too. Till is important because his grappling is absolute dogshit. As sus as Alex's grappling is I can't imagine it's much worse than Darren's

And Alex was BUTCHERING Izzy in the clinch with body punches and knees. Rob would get annihilated inside and if he kept his distance and stood with Alex hes going to sleep.

Alex finds the KO..

There’s a flip side to this coin. If Izzy can take you down and hold you down…..who can’t?

 

[Mr Fahrenheit]

Every time rob has fought a world class striker he lose badly.
Wonderbread and izzy pushed his shit in.
I can't see this ending well for Rob, although I would be supporting him all the way

He did not lose badly to Izzy in the rematch. Whittaker just showed the blueprint. And Izzy just showed that AP’s grappling sucks. Whittaker isn’t dominant enough to smash AP on the hiring, but if he’s willing to be boring he can potentially grind it out.

 

[Contempt]

I dont see Rob just diving for some stupid double, more likely he'll drive up against the cage, dirty box and drain his gas tank.

What will Alex look like after a couple of entire rounds of wrestling? I'm guessing he'll be gassed as all hell, especially cutting all that weight.

 

[ExitLUPin]

There’s a flip side to this coin. If Izzy can take you down and hold you down…..who can’t?

I think Rob can take and hold Alex down for a bit but he's much smaller and Rob has shown no ability to finish fights on the ground unless he's already had the opponent badly hurt standing first. Darren Till has been taken down and controlled by karateka Nicolas Dalby but Rob could barely keep him down even tho Darrens grappling is horrific.

Alex is legit 6'4 not fake 6'4 like Izzy and around 215lbs in there. Rob who can get TDs isnt gonna suddenly turn into Bo Nickal in there. He will be taxed trying to take and keep Alex down and his leg and chin are constantly in danger. And as we saw Alex has round 5 knockout power and Rob does have moments of inactivity at range. His darts and in and out movements would get him countered badly too.