The only time Robert Whitaker ever fought an elite striker...

[Jimmy Jazz]

He got completely outclassed and knocked out. Styles make fights. Everyone Robert has fought at Middleweight has been a short wrestler with a overhand right. He hasn't fought anyone at 185 with higher level boxing than him. High level strikers have always been his weakness. IMO, KG is a better version of him.

Just like Conor's toughest fight was Mendez for the Interim, then the actual fight was easy work, we might be seeing that again.

Didn't you notice his striking style was completely different at 170? At 185 he went back to his karate roots and started kicking ass. He is not the same fighter.

 

[theTKDguy]

I felt like there were a lot of similarities to Conor vs Mendes leading up to last night

Aldo and Whittaker both injured which forces an interim title fight

"Hype train" Israel vs underrated experienced deadly contender Kelvin

Israel hadn't been tested like Kelvin had and he rose to the title shot very quickly. Lots of people thought Kelvin would shut down the train but in a dog fight, Israel prevailed. Conor went through some serious adversity to get that win

True

 

[Raksas]

Wonderboy is way better than Adesanya in standup and proved much more than him, fought better strikers in general - and not older ones, all of them in their prime just to remember - and made it easy. Adesanya is light-years behind tbh, didn't prove much until now. You are a blind fan like the others, no news here.

You need to do your research. Adesanya fought and arguably beat the no 1 mw kickboxer in the World. WB hasnt done shit in the World of striking

 

[Andreh]

You need to do your research. Adesanya fought and arguably beat the no 1 mw kickboxer in the World. WB hasnt done shit in the World of striking

We are talking about MMA. If pure striking were the matter, Gokhan Saki would be a UFC champ by know, and we all saw what happened.

Maybe you need to... make some sense.

 

[sjon22]

Burns won via an eyepoke. Johnson literally went down from getting poked in the eye.

regardless it was a competitive fight that had made it to the 3rd round. The point I am making is only fighter that matters is the current version , not the past version. Especially 5+years ago in a lower weightless and the guy has recently beaten Yoel Romero x 2

 

[LetThemBleed]

Honestly i dont get why people are so high on whittaker i think most top mws beat him

Like Romero, like Jacare? Not sure if you're trolling or a moron?

 

[LetThemBleed]

That's right. Adesanya is a much better striker than Wonderboy and actually fought the best guys in kickboxing while Wonderboy was fighting cans in a bum league that no one knows about.

Yes and if the Reaper hadn't improved a tonne since 2014 you might have a point. Not even going to mention the difference a draining weight cut made.

 

[LetThemBleed]

That fight doesn't count per Whittaker fans

No it counts but he was what 23 at the time and was far less durable at WW than he is at MW. He's since gone on a 9-0 run with 8 of those wins being at MW.

 

[orca]

Wb cant beat a wrestler in a striking battle for the belt

 

[csufwrestler]

Hall isn’t an elite striker?

 

[sssleeper]

Honestly i dont get why people are so high on whittaker i think most top mws beat him

Because he beat most top middleweights.

 

[ferrisjso]

I think Gastelum would have been champ for a fight if Whitaker didn't get an ulcer. Israel's going to be the champ. Don't think he's as incredible as he's being hyped to be, but I think he's good enough.

 

[Anaconda99]

Wonderboy is way better than Adesanya in standup and proved much more than him, fought better strikers in general - and not older ones, all of them in their prime just to remember - and made it easy. Adesanya is light-years behind tbh, didn't prove much until now. You are a blind fan like the others, no news here.

Isnt Thompson the guy that fought a wrestler with a overhand for 50 minutes and all he managed to do was get beat the shit out?

 

[Rebirth]

You need to do your research. Adesanya fought and arguably beat the no 1 mw kickboxer in the World. WB hasnt done shit in the World of striking

Adesanya doesn’t hold a candle to Wonderboy.

Wonderboy is much more proven and has looked much better against better opponents than hypetrain Adesanya whose best win is over a short WW he hardly squeaked by.

 

[pick999]

I don't think Rob losses to pettis

 

[kingjim]

Honestly i dont get why people are so high on whittaker i think most top mws beat him

hahahahahahaha - most top mw's ... like Romero and Jacare. Oh sorry what was that? you noob.
Romero and Jacare are in the top 10 mws of all time if not top 5 -
ps Jacare destroyed mousasi - hes pretty good I hear

 

[Sapp]

Burns won via an eyepoke. Johnson literally went down from getting poked in the eye.

 

[It's-Only-Business]

I guess we will just pretend that he never fought Urijah Hall, the Beast!

 

[IDGETKTFO]

Whittaker is Kelvin 2.0, taller, longer reach, and better cardio. He is going to make Israel look like Ortega vs Max.

 

[porcodio]

He got completely outclassed and knocked out. Styles make fights. Everyone Robert has fought at Middleweight has been a short wrestler with a overhand right. He hasn't fought anyone at 185 with higher level boxing than him. High level strikers have always been his weakness. IMO, KG is a better version of him.

Just like Conor's toughest fight was Mendez for the Interim, then the actual fight was easy work, we might be seeing that again.

Maybe. Maybe Whitaker power will be too much. I wouldn't be surprised if it brings it to the ground and wear Israel out. Not an easy match up for Israel. He needs to hurt him quickly but he's a volume striker most of the time.