Israel Adesanya: Robert Whittaker in for a rude awakening when he feels my strength at UFC 271

Robert Whittaker thinks grappling could very well play a factor against Israel Adesanya, but “The Last Stylebender” plans on surprising him.

Middleweight champion Adesanya (21-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) rematches Whittaker in the main event of of UFC 271, which takes place Feb. 12 at Toyota Center in Houston. In their title unification bout at UFC 243, Adesanya dethroned Whittaker by putting on a striking masterclass en route to a second-round knockout.

But Whittaker (23-5 MMA, 14-3 UFC) has since rebounded in impressive fashion, incorporating some grappling to help nullify some of the best and hardest-hitting strikers in the division. For this training camp, Adesanya says he’s been working a lot on his strength and welcomes the grappling exchanges in the fight.

“Rob’s going to be in shock,” Adesanya said in an interview with Combat TV. “He’s going to be in for a rude awakening is when he feels me because the first time we didn’t clinch. I hope to clinch with him this time because every time they do it and they realize, ‘Oh he’s a lot stronger than –’ they all say that. They think they know how strong I am until they feel me, then they’re like, ‘Oh sh*t.’”

Adesanya’s win over Whittaker was near flawless, so will it be difficult for him to get up for a rematch? The reigning champion says he actually plans on putting on an even better performance.

“For me, not so hard,” Adesanya said. “I won’t even say more difficult, but there’s a – because everybody expects me to wash this guy, same way everyone expected me to wash (Marvin) Vettori. So it’s the pressure I put on myself that I have to dominate in every facet of this fight. Grappling, standup, against the fence, in the clinch, anywhere the fight goes. So I put that pressure on myself because I expect better of myself, and I want to make sure I show out even better than the first time I faced the opponent.”

He continued, “I’m not going to fight him the way I fought him the first time, and I know he’s not going to fight me the way he fought me the first time. He’s a silly boy. If he thinks he has someone else’s blueprint to beat me, he’s a silly man. But his team’s smart, so that’s why I take him seriously. It’s because of his team. He, himself, he’s a silly boy.”