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

[Alxair]

Even though I think Robert lost vs Yoel in their second fight, his insane durability during that fight cannot be understated. He also inflicted a lot of damage onto Yoel in those fights. Not saying that Kelvin is bad at all but there is a big step up from him to Yoel and Robert. The only question I have is if Whittaker will be himself again or if he's actually done via injuries.

Also Whittaker isn't as frustratingly small as Gastelum, so trading will probably look better here.

 

[Sansnom]

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.

That fight was more than 5 years ago. And it was at Welterweight.

Imagine comparing that version of Whittaker to the one today.

You're an official retard.

 

[Only Here for Attachments]

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.

"But"

 

[asdf122345]

Whittaker lost his last fight with Romero. Adesanya will dethrone Whittaker when they fight. Mark my words people. You will make easy money here.

 

[C0NCH3TO]

Rob is one of the very few cases when moving up helped a lot. Also I should add that Robert lost to Wonderboy and McGee when he was 22-23 years old. Some guys are late bloomers and become great after some losses.

 

[MTL]

Serra knocked out GSP. Great fighters can have bad nights early in their careers.
Whittaker destroys Wonderboy in a rematch.

 

[LetThemBleed]

"But"

So anyone who has ever lost a fight can't possibly improve in your eyes? Pretty sure a guy who lost to Wonderboy couldn't possibly beat Jacare or withstand the power of Romero, oh wait...

 

[pv3Hpv3p]

I think Whitaker has clearly shown he's a much better fighter without trying to drain his body to 170#s.

I don't think a rematch with Thompson @ 185 would look like the same fight

 

[silvasurfer5253]

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

Conor went through some serious adversity to get that win

Laughable bullshit. Conor goes 2 RDs against a guy who basically had 7 days to train, and you’re equating it to a 5rd war.

 

[CrimsonFan]

I'd be pretty surprised if Whittaker beats him.

You can just tell this Israel guy is gonna be champ. So much momentum at such a young age.

 

[Ruthless_swag]

If Gastelum had Izzy in trouble several times Bobby is gonna be a massive problem for him.

Bobby is quicker, closes distance better, has a more diverse arsenal, and is much better at range than Kelvin.

he isn't much better than Kelvin at range. he just has a longer reach lmao.

 

[smileyfacedkill2**]

I keep telling you guys that Robert is another Rich Franklin .

 

[RockyLockridge]

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

For what its worth, i thought yoel won the rematch for sure if not it was a draw. I think kelvin beats him, weidman can beat him, luke could have beaten him and i for sure think mousasi could beat him. But sure go with mma math.

 

[LetMeBangSherBro]

via Imgflip Meme Generator

 

[Raksas]

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.

Adesanya has done in 1 year what WB will never do: Become Champion

 

[kingjim]

For what its worth, i thought yoel won the rematch for sure if not it was a draw. I think kelvin beats him, weidman can beat him, luke could have beaten him and i for sure think mousasi could beat him. But sure go with mma math.

for what its worth .... youre the one that said why is he hyped.
Hes hyped because he beat romero who no other middleweight has beaten.
He destroyed Jacare who realistically was and is a bad matchup for him.
Styles make fights for sure
However to say hes overhyped shows your lack of knowledge in mma

For what its worth again - how does kelvin, Weidman, luke beat him, oh and lol at mousasi who got slammed by jacare - would get slammed by romero
mma math? or just nonsense talk Im thinking.

 

[Nobru]

Wonderboy and Israel fight pretty differently. Most importantly, Wonderboy uses range and length a lot differently.

Wonderboy uses range the way we usually think about it, whereas Israel likes being closer and relies on small adjustments to slip punches. He’s pretty good at it too.

But Whittaker is better at everything than Gastelum is. Gastelum hurt Israel a number of times. And Whittaker doesn’t sit there in the pocket like Gastelum tends to when he isn’t doing an Ali shuffle (or whatever you call that shuffle he does).

I don’t think Whittaker will have much trouble with him. But ya, you could be right and I could be wrong. But consider than range thing I mentioned before taking this too far.

Exactly what ive been talking about. Israel pocket fights for no reason. He is skilled, yea, but hes hittable. If hes trying to be AS like, good luck to him on improving his power. Otherwise i see him getting droped by not only Whitaker, but possible romero or Costa

 

[rorschach51]

This fight was a very long time ago, Whittaker has improved massively since.

Agreed. Also Whitaker was never really impressive at 170 dude legit lost to Court McGee before WB.

Is Robert losing to McGee literally 6 months before Wonderboy knocked him out suppose to mean something today too

 

[TriangleMonkey]

I know Gas is fast and closes distance well but Izzy having a damn near 10” reach advantage got split open by jabs.

Robert will find his mark and has more offense to keep Izzy guessing more. Robert will drop him with the left hook. Its my favorite strike of his. Its been a great punch for him since he was a WW and now its deadly AF.

 

[RockyLockridge]

For what its worth again - how does kelvin, Weidman, luke beat him, oh and lol at mousasi who got slammed by jacare - would get slammed by romero
mma math? or just nonsense talk Im thinking.

okay well a lot of people think jacare beat romero too. I get that romero is good, but it's not as if he looks unbeatable in every fight that he wins. same with weidman, same with jacare, same with whittaker.

People act as if there is a sizable skill gap between the MW top 5 and Robert whittaker, I don't believe that there is, I think he could lose to any of them on any night. I'd be very surprised if he amassed more than 3 title defenses.