PARIS – Robert Whittaker expects a pure standup battle in the upcoming UFC middleweight title fight.
The former champion is confident Israel Adesanya’s title defense against kickboxing rival Alex Pereira will play out as advertised.
Adesanya, who attempts to defend his belt a sixth time, takes on Pereira in the main event of UFC 281 on Nov. 12 in New York City. It’s a trilogy fight in combat sports, but the first time they meet in MMA. The two previously fought in kickboxing, with Pereira getting his hand raised both times – one by KO, and the other by decision.
With a new ruleset under MMA, it opens things up for takedowns and groundwork. Yet, Whittaker (23-6 MMA, 14-4 UFC) doesn’t expect ground aspects of MMA to factor in, and doubts Adesanya will use his wrestling against Pereira.
“I can’t see it,” Whittaker said at the UFC Fight Night 209 media day. “Honestly, I can’t see it. I can’t see it.”
Whittaker returns to the cage this Saturday against Marvin Vettori (18-4-1 MMA, 8-3-1 UFC). He hopes to rebound from his title loss to Adesanya and put himself back in a position to challenge for the belt once again.
Whittaker is keeping a close eye on the middleweight championship bout, and he’s very intrigued about how the fight will play out.
“That’s an interesting fight,” Whittaker said. “I do think it’s going to be a kickboxing fight with small gloves.
“You’ve got a rangy, tall defensive striker vs. a rangy, tall offensive striker. It’s going to be interesting. He’s very tall, and he’s going to have advantages in the striking department that myself did not have because just the distance he can reach and the length of his arms. But I don’t know, I’m very interested in it.
“The small gloves is going to be a big variable in that fight compared to the first two fights they had against each other. So, we’ll wait and see.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 209.
