Dan Hardy breaks down why Robert Whittaker may aim for a submission against Israel Adesanya at UFC 271

Dan Hardy (left); Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker (right) [Image credits - @espnmma on Twitter]

Dan Hardy feels Robert Whittaker will try to submit Israel Adesanya in their upcoming rematch at UFC 271. Whittaker and Adedsanya fought each other in the headliner of UFC 243 back in 2019. Adesanya came away with a second-round TKO victory on the night.

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The pair will once again share the octagon in a rematch set to take place on February 12 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. Ahead of the fight, UFC analyst Dan Hardy broke down Whittaker's approach to the rematch. According to the Englishman, Whittaker will try to drag Adesanya into deep waters and submit him with an arm-triangle or a rear-naked choke in the championship rounds.

Hardy feels that'd be the best strategy for 'The Reaper' to reconquer his lost throne at UFC 271. He pointed out that Adesanya exposes his back during scrambles and Whittaker will look to exploit that. During a recent interview with Submission Radio, Hardy said:

"When he scrambles he gives his back and if Vettori can take his back even for a moment, I've got to think Whittaker is going to be able to as well. I think he's fancying a submission. I don't want to give away any of his game plan, I'm just guessing here, but you know I would think arm triangles and rear-naked chokes all day for Whittaker in the fourth and fifth round."

Check out Hardy's interview below:

Michael Bisping also believes Robert Whittaker is likely to submit Israel Adesanya at UFC 271

Interestingly, Michael Bisping made a similar assessment of the rematch between Whittaker and Adesanya. Bisping, like Hardy, believes that Whittaker is likely to try and submit 'The Last Stylebender' at UFC 271.

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Bisping opined that Adesanya's grappling isn't as good as his striking and believes Robert Whittaker will be looking to take advantage of that in the rematch. If Whittaker manages to take Adesanya down, Bisping feels it could be a long and rough night for the champ:

"If Robert can take him down for a significant period of time, we could see a submission and we could see, potentially, a ground-and-pound stoppage," Bisping said on the Believe You Me podcast.

Check out the video below: