I wrote three different articles about Robert Whittaker vs Israel Adesanya for my Meepmma website. This is it in total. Enjoy

Part One:

It is without a question or a doubt that this fight this weekend at UFC 243 is the most anticipated fight of the year, might I even add, ever in MMA history. This weekend we will finally have an official Middleweight Champion in the UFC. The MW divsion has been throw into Chaos the last two years, As the last time the title was defended/won was at UFC 217, when then Champion Michael Bisping fought against George St-Pierre. GSP won the title, cemented his legacy but vacanted the title only 30 days later.

That fight was two years ago.

Fast forward to now, We now have a fight that will not only determine a official Champion but also unify another Championship as Interim MW Champ Israel Adesanya will Face Champ Robert Whittaker in the biggest fight in Oceania history. This fight has alot more to this, then just a title fight. National pride is on the line, A time for one fighter to prove all the doubters wrong and the other that is on the verge of Super-Stardom.

Robert Whittaker vs Israel Adesanya might be one or not the most important title fight of all time. Heres why:

Robert Whittaker is on a 8 fight win streak at the moment, also in that time won the interim MW title and later got promoted to Champion when GSP vacanted his title after UFC 217. Whittaker put on a performance against Yoel Romero the first time winning the Interim title, and when it was his first time to defend his title and prove to the MMA World that he is the rightful MW Champ, Yoel missed weight and it was later announced the fight was a non-title bout. That didnt stop Whittaker putting on a Champions performance and defeating Yoel the second time. After Spending 50 mins altogether fighting Yoel Romero and surviving, Whittaker had his eye on defending his title and again to prove he is a worthy champion, and that it wasn’t handed to him.

It was announced that Whittaker would defend his title against Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 234 and the event was built around Whittaker. It was held in Australia in front of his Home crowd and it was a sellout, Fans where excited to see Whittaker defend his title against Gastelum. It was all set. Then disaster struck, just a day before the event.

Whittaker was rushed to hospital due to Hernia, A twisted and collapsed bowel (Jesus Christ am I right?) It was unfortunate for the Champ which he was set to defend his title but thank god he made a full recovery. With Whittaker out, A main event replacement was made instead Israel Adesanya vs Anderson Silva. With the Champ out, in a weird way, Israel Adesanya took the spotlight and media attention when he got put into the main event. Israel would later go on to win against Silva, beating his Idiol and capturing all the media and fan attention, putting his name into Stardom, which should of been for Whittaker.

Part Two:

With Whittaker in recovery, The UFC had to make a fight in the meantime, they needed to make it up to Kelvin Gastelum and also keep Israel’s hype going, so it was put together that Israel Adesanya and Kelvin Gastelum would fight for the Interim MW title at UFC 236. The winner will get an immediate title fight against Whittaker,When he recovers of course.

In April of this year at UFC 236, Israel Adesanya and Kelvin Gastelum fought each other for the Interim MW title and it was a WAR. Consider to many now and even on the night as the best fight of the year (Now of all time) Israel and Kelvin gave it their all, as both men went back and forth for the entire 5 rounds. Both men had their moments, with Kelvin stunning Israel early in the fight and pressuring Israel with his wrestling and power. Israel recovered and dominated the fight, displacying his Kickboxing skills and takedown defense. It was in the 5th round where Israel shined the most and got the advantage of Gastelum knocking him down several times in that round alone. Israel won the fight and became the new Interim Champion.

It is like the stars aligned that night, even before that bout there where talks of Whittaker vs Israel and if that ever was to happen, it would be the biggest fight in Oceania history. Well some how it did happen, Now we have a fight that is taken place between Robert Whittaker and Israel Adesanya for the MW title in Australia.

Two of the biggest fighters to Emerge from down under, Both representing not one but several Countries and communities, Whittaker who was born in New Zealand but lives In Australia and Israel who was born in Nigeria but lives In New Zealand.Both men with completely different backgrounds, fighting for more then a title, This fight is more important to each fighter and where they are both from and who they represent on the World stage. This is alot deeper then we might think.

Israel Adesanya has become a sensation in the last year, it is crazy to think that he only made his debut in 2018, yet he has over taken every other fighter in his divsion, maybe in the UFC with his popularity. Israel fought 4 times in 2018 and twice already in 2019, most fighters dont even fight that much in a two year span, Israel however is different, he has captured fans attention from the get-go with many critics and fans calling him “The Next Jon Jones”.

Not only does he have the skills in the octagon to finish his opponents, he has charisma and the personality bigger than any other fighter. If Israel is not Kicking your head off, he’s getting you flustered with his One Liners and straight to the bone remarks, Israel talks the talk and also walks it too. But come fight week and the fight itself, Will or Can Isarel get into Whittaker’s head?

I think its going to take more then that.

Part Three:

Now with only days away, The trenches have been dug and everyone has picked who they want to win between Whittaker and Adesanya. Yet it isnt as simple as some may think, The more I think about it myself.

Take the Gastelum fight, Israel was pushed to his limit against Gastelum, getting stunned early in the fight. Israel showed heart and determination, but Gastelum’s pressure,power got Israel to dig deeper then ever before in a fight. Israel did show alot of heart and also a huge improvement in that fight. Gastelum gas tank did empty towards the end, not saying that was how Israel won, no way, he fought with everything he had and won that fight, but Whittaker is a complete different fighter then Gastelum. Whittaker can dig deeper and his cardio,wrestling and stand up game is miles ahead of Gastelum.(respectfully) I don’t know if Israel can withstand Whittaker’s pressure and wrestling. That still has yet to be seen and also tested on a fighter. Whittaker is as tough and durable as they come.

Now, Whittaker has been tested alone in his last two fights against Yoel Romero, winning over Yoel is a tough task and yet Whittaker has done it twice. Going a Completely 50 mins in the octagon with Romero. In those two fights Romero threw everything at Whittaker and yet somehow and someway, he survived and still kept Romero at bay with his Striking and his takedown defense. Whittaker’s wrestling is under-rated, and I have a feeling in this fight with Israel, we will see It on display and used through out the fight. I think that’s the key to defeating Israel, get him on the ground, tire him out, apply that pressure, empty that gas tank. Once Whittaker can do that, he will slow Israel down completely, pick him apart from the ground.

As I said it’s not clear cut as one might think. Israel could pick apart Whittaker with his stand up,keep the distance and play the counter game with Whittaker or Whittaker could just stream roll Israel with his wrestling, power and pressure.

It actually is anyones game, which makes this fight absolutely amazing but gives me a headache thinking of an outcome and what to expect.

This fight is just that fight for me, it has everything in a fight that only comes around once in a lifetime. A Champion who wants to prove to the world that he is the rightful Champion and shutdown all criticism of his reign, prove the doubters wrong and remain on top of the divsion, even with the long layoff and injuries. A true Underdog story.

Then we have the Up and coming Fighter, loud and Confident, Charismatic but Deadly wanting to get what he always knew what was his, A World title.

With that he gets everything he worked hard for and a place in the history books and a platform many wish they could get to. Super-Stardom awaits him, but only with gold wrapped around his waist.

Robert Whittaker vs Israel Adesanya is live this weekend. Dont miss this one.

The Battle Of Oceania Cometh.

Marc

Meepmma/52ndmma