Israel Adesanya is favored against Robert Whittaker at UFC 271: Adesanya vs. Whittaker on Saturday, February 12 in Houston, Texas. This event is one of five fights on the main pay-per-view card. Adesanya is 21-1 in his career, while Whittaker is 23-5 in his career. There are a total of 13 fights with five on Pay-Per-View, four on ESPN2/ESPN+ and six on ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass at UFC 271: Adesanya vs. Whittaker 2. Let’s look at the bout between Adesanya and Whittaker and UFC predictions.
UFC 271: Adesanya vs. Whittaker 2 takes place at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas on Saturday, February 12 with 13 fights with five on Pay-Per-View, four on ESPN2/ESPN+ and six on ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass.
UFC 271: Adesanya vs. Whittaker 2 Betting
Israel Adesanya (21-1, 10-1 UFC)
Adesanya came into the UFC with a record of 11-0 and he has 10 wins and one loss in the UFC. In his last six fights, he has five wins and one loss. He defeated Kelvin Gastelum by unanimous decision, Robert Whittaker by KO, Yoel Romero by unanimous decision, Paulo Costa by TKO, and Marvin Vettori by unanimous decision; while losing to Jan Blachowicz by unanimous decision. Adesanya has been a pro since 2012 and he has 15 wins by TKO/KO and six by decision. He has seven first round finishes.
Adesanya said this to sportingnews.com about his upcoming fight against Whittaker, “He can’t stand with me, so I know he will be forced to grapple. Last time he said Kevin Gastelum has given the blueprint on how to beat Adesanya,’ and now he’s saying ‘Jan (Blachowicz) has given the blueprint’.... he needs to write his own blueprint. If he wants to copy someone else’s work, then by all means try, because it went so well last time for him when we fought. Whittaker may have learnt from his mistakes from last time for maybe a round or so, but then trust me; he will revert back to those errors. Once he feels what he felt last time, he won’t know where to turn. Also, he didn’t even grapple with me last time, he didn’t really feel me. You can ask any of my previous opponents, they will tell you. So once he feels me in a grapple, then he will get shook again. People kept saying what a good guy he is, but trust me he’s not. You don’t see that behind the scenes. And now he’s admitted it was his ego that got the best of him – well I told you so, he should have listened to me! What else can he say? He said after the fight that it was the best he’s ever felt; well I do not forget that. If he can get better, he’ll have to bring the best again and I will beat him again.”
Robert Whittaker (23-5, 14-3 UFC)
Whittaker came into the UFC with a record of 9-2 and he has 14 wins and three losses in the UFC. In his last six fights, he has five wins and one loss. He defeated Yoel Romero twice once by unanimous decision and once by split decision, Darren Till by unanimous decision, Jared Cannonier by unanimous decision, and Kelvin Gastelum by unanimous decision; while losing to Israel Adesanya by KO. Whittaker has been a pro since 2009 and he has nine wins by TKO/KO and five by submission. He has 11 first round finishes.
Whittaker said this to dailymail.co.uk about his upcoming fight against Adesanya, “No one expects me to win. No one expects me to go over there and dethrone him after he beat me already. Throughout my whole career, I've loved being the underdog. I love getting in there and defying the odds. I like going in there and proving people wrong. It gives me that little bit of extra edge. As a fighter, I've changed plenty, you can see I'm trying to incorporate new angles into my game, use a more complete skill set.”
Striking Stats
Strikes landed per minute: Adesanya 3.94 / Whittaker 4.68
Striking Accuracy: Adesanya 50% / Whittaker 41%
Strikes absorbed per minute: Adesanya 2.59 / Whittaker 3.34
Defense: Adesanya 62% / Whittaker 61%
Grappling Stats
Takedown average: Adesanya 0.00 / Whittaker 0.64
Takedown Accuracy: Adesanya 0% / Whittaker 34%
Takedowns defended: Adesanya 80% / Whittaker 83%
Submission average: Adesanya 0.2 / Whittaker 0.0
UFC Picks
I don’t like laying big prices and I am not laying 3-1, but I don’t see any real chance for Whittaker in this fight. Adesanya beat Whittaker last time and nothing has changed that makes me think Whittaker has any chance. Since I think Adesanya gets the win, but I don’t want to lay a big price, I am looking at taking Adesanya to win inside the distance at +150.
UFC 271: Adesanya vs. Whittaker 2 Card & Odds
| DATE | FIGHTERS | MONEY LINE |
| 02/12 | Robert Whittaker | +218 |
| Israel Adesanya | -285 |
| 02/12 | Derek Brunson | +139 |
| Jared Cannonier | -175 |
| 02/12 | Tai Tuivasa | +150 |
| Derrick Lewis | -190 |
| 02/12 | Douglas Silva de Andrade | +168 |
| Sergey Morozov | -215 |
| 02/12 | Jacob Malkoun | -105 |
| AJ Dobson | -125 |
| 02/12 | Marcelo Rojo | +295 |
| Kyler Phillips | -405 |
| 02/12 | Alexander Hernandez | +143 |
| Renato Moicano | -180 |
| 02/12 | Roxanne Modafferi | +286 |
| Casey O’Neill | -390 |
| 02/12 | Fabio Cherant | +194 |
| Carlos Ulberg | -250 |
| 02/12 | Mana Martinez | +231 |
| Ronnie Lawrence | -305 |
| 02/12 | Matt Schnell | +298 |
| Alex Perez | -410 |
| 02/12 | Nasrat Haqparast | +115 |
| Bobby Green | -145 |
| 02/12 | Jared Vanderaa | +120 |
| Andrei Arlovski | -150 |
| 02/12 | William Knight | +135 |
| Maxim Grishin | -170 |
| 02/12 | Mike Mathetha | +183 |
| Jeremiah Wells | -235 |
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