"He fought scared" - Josh Thomson on Robert Whittaker's performance against Israel Adesanya at UFC 271
Josh Thomson believes Robert Whittaker fought "scared" during his UFC 271 main event against Israel Adesanya.
In one of the most technical UFC title fights in recent memory, Robert Whittaker and Israel Adesanya went back and forth in a fascinating showdown between the two best 185-pounders on the planet.
They both had their moments, but ultimately, Adesanya was the one who got the nod and, therefore, retained the championship.
Whittaker was upset about the outcome in the aftermath of the bout. While many fans also scored it in favor of the Australian, it was simply too close to call for the majority.
Josh Thomson, a former UFC fighter himself, had an interesting theory for what went down during a recent episode of the Weighing In podcast.
“I think Whittaker tonight, he just fought scared. To me, he came out and fought scared. We talked about patience, fighting composed, all of those things leading up to the fight, but he came out and it just seemed like he was fighting a little bit scared. I’ve had people criticize me saying I’m a Whittaker hater, no, I’m actually not. I think he’s a phenomenal fighter and I bet on the fact I thought he was gonna win this fight. It didn’t come up that way and he just didn’t pull the trigger enough.”
Catch the full episode below:
What's next for Robert Whittaker?
It feels pretty likely that Robert Whittaker is going to fight for a UFC title again, given that he's only 31 years of age. At the same time, despite the controversy surrounding the decision, he may need to do some work before getting back there.
The most popular suggestion, as of this writing, appears to be the idea of him taking on Marvin Vettori. 'The Italian Dream' came up short against Adesanya too, but he was impressive against Paulo Costa. After having to move up to light heavyweight on short notice, the UFC owes him.
Once Adesanya has battled Jared Cannonier, potentially in June, the title picture will become a whole lot clearer.