John Kavanagh answers if Robert Whittaker can beat Israel Adesanya in rematch by replicating Jan Blachowicz’s tactics

John Kavanagh feels grappling is the key to Robert Whittaker’s success in his upcoming rematch with Israel Adesanya. Although he acknowledges Whittaker as a good striker, Kavanagh thinks Adesanya will outstrike the Australian on the feet. The SBG Dublin head coach believes that Whittaker and his team have been looking into the fight between Jan Blachowicz and Adesanya at UFC 259.

In that fight, Blachowicz controlled Adesanya through his wrestling on the way to a unanimous decision victory. Kavanagh opines that Whittaker will seek to use the Polish fighter’s tactics from the matchup. Having said that, the Irishman also points out that Whittaker isn’t as big as Blachowicz and might find it more difficult to take down ‘The Last Stylebender’.

During a recent interview with Fox Sports, Kavanagh stated that as long as Whittaker does not indulge Adesanya on the feet and looks to take the fight to the ground, he will have a chance:

“I’m sure Whittaker and his team have been breaking down that Jan fight and seeing if they can use those tactics, because I do think if it becomes a kickboxing match, it is [Adesanya] again possibly. Whittaker, he doesn’t have Jan’s size, let’s be honest but possibly if he can bring in a grappling-heavy approach, maybe he can do it…”

Check out Kavanagh’s interview below:

John Kavanagh expects Israel Adesanya to defeat Robert Whittaker at UFC 271

John Kavanagh is respectful of Robert Whittaker’s abilities inside the octagon. However, he believes it’s Israel Adesanya who’s likely to emerge victorious once again in their rematch. Kavanagh says that while Robert Whittaker appears to be the more hardworking fighter of the pair, Adesanya is a special fighter.

According to Kavanagh, the middleweight champion’s movement and precise striking could once again prove to be too much for ‘The Reaper’:

“I hate to pick one over the other because I think they’re both fantastic fighters but probably due to the way they match up, due to stylistic reasons, I would lean towards Israel repeating what he did before already.”

Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker are set for a rematch with the middleweight title on the line at UFC 271 on February 12. They fought each other for the first time at UFC 243 in 2019. In that match, ‘The Last Stylebender’ emerged victorious via a TKO in the second round.

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Both men have been on win streaks in the division since that fight. Thus, it’ll be intriguing to see who emerges victorious when the champ faces the former champ inside the octagon.