"He's very hard to dethrone" - Robert Whittaker gives his take on Israel Adesanya vs Alex Pereira; talks about his close rematch with 'The Last Stylebender'
Robert Whittaker has shared his opinion on the upcoming title fight between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira at UFC 281.
During the UFC Paris post-fight press conference, Whittaker was asked for his thoughts on the upcoming championship fight. In response, 'The Reaper' praised Adesanya and said that it would be difficult to dethrone 'The Last Stylebender'.
Adesanya and Pereira have competed twice against each other in kickboxing. Both times, it was 'Poatan' who walked away with the victory. He also knocked 'Izzy' out on their second outing.
Whittaker referred to the fact that MMA gloves are smaller in size than the ones used in kickboxing, hence, it's easier to hit harder as there's not much leather in between. 'The Reaper' said:
"He's [Israel Adesanya] very good. I think his style of fighting, he's a very good defensive striker and he has the physical attributes to do it, as well as the talent in the craft."
The Aussie continued:
"He can avoid danger like nobody's business, and that makes him hard to dethrone, especially if you go to the points...He's [Pereira] got the range and the reach and he's very offensive with it. So, we're gonna see that. But in saying that, they're wearing small glvoes. Small gloves change things." [sic]
You can watch the full press conference below:
Robert Whittaker reflects on his second fight with Israel Adesanya
During the UFC: Paris press conference, Robert Whittaker reflected on his rematch with Israel Adesanya. 'The Reaper' discussed the improvements he made in that fight in comparison to their first encounter and how it helped him in his fight against Marvin Vettori.
"He knocked me out in the first one. The second one was a really close decision that I... feel on another day, could've been my win. Mentally, that's massive."
Whittaker added:
"It's hard to explain how it feels to get knocked out and lose your belt like that. You know, it sucks. There's a bit of a learning process afterwards... and doubts and what-not. And I conquered most of them before that second fight. That second fight conquered the rest of them and I think you could see that in this fight today."
Robert Whittaker put on a masterful performance against Marvin Vettori today. The former champion outclassed 'The Italian Dream' for three rounds and cruised to a dominant decision victory.