Robert Whittaker on how grappling will play a factor vs. Israel Adesanya at UFC 271

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Robert Whittaker on how grappling will play a factor vs. Israel Adesanya at UFC 271

Robert Whittaker has shown off his grappling prowess in recent wins, but will he do the same against Israel Adesanya?

Whittaker (23-5 MMA, 14-3 UFC) runs things back with UFC middleweight champion Adesanya (21-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) in the main event of UFC 271, which takes place Feb. 12 at Toyota Center in Houston. Whittaker will aim to reclaim his belt from “The Stylebender” and vows to approach things differently than their first meeting.

The former middleweight champion admitted his ego got in the way when he lost his title to Adesanya at UFC 243, causing him to be uncharacteristically reckless on the feet. But having landed two takedowns in his win over Darren Till and four in his most recent dominant performance against Kelvin Gastelum, Whittaker plans on capitalizing on any openings for grappling exchanges.

“I would love to be able to get him on his back and to work on the ground,” Whittaker told MMA Junkie. “It’s no secret that the greatest advantage anyone would have with ‘Izzy’ is on his back where he can’t use his long arms and long legs to hit you. It’s no secret.

“Am I going to focus on just that? That’s anybody’s guess because no, I can strike with the best of them, as well, so if an opportunity presents itself – I guess my whole headspace is just utilize the tools and the opportunities that I’m given in this fight, and I think that sums it up pretty well. If I see takedowns, I’ll take them. If I see openings to strike, I’ll take them. Keeping that defense nice and tight. More or less just a little less of what happened in the first fight.”

Adesanya’s lone loss came in a failed bid to capture the light heavyweight title from then-champion Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259. Blachowicz was able to take Adesanya down three times, something of which Whittaker has definitely taken note.

“I think Jan set a blueprint on how to beat him,” Whittaker said. “But again, I don’t have the same skillsets and tools Jan does. I don’t have that Polish power, nor that Polish head. You know, like he’s a tough guy, so got to utilize what I have. Definitely we saw that ‘Izzy’ is much less dangerous off his back. Still dangerous, but less dangerous. If I was a strategist, I would be writing down all the points of which Jan utilized to take that win and then putting it in my own.”

To see the full interview with Whittaker, check out the video below.

Robert Whittaker on how grappling will play a factor vs. Israel Adesanya at UFC 271