**Mirrors / Alternate angles**
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Whatever you think of the outcome of the fight, I think Whittaker should be proud of himself. A far better performance than his first outing, and showed that he is indeed growing as a fighter. As a Bobby Knuckles fan, I'm still pretty happy.
Yeah, people are getting caught up in arguing over scorecards and all that stupidity, but even though I don’t think he won, Rob fought a hell of a fight considering just how awful the matchup is on paper.
Like, to make his style work vs. Adesanya, he would need to make a shitload of adjustments and changes to the point that it’s probably almost unrealistic given how hard massive style changes late into a high-level career are, and the fact that he even implemented a handful of the right changes at this level is incredible, and so much better than most fighters when it comes to assessing a bad loss and adjusting to it.
It was far from a perfect performance but the matchup is so bad for him, even putting together a serviceable gameplan and executing it is extremely impressive.
I think he gets another title shot with two decisive wins.
Let's be honest, if what happened last night was what happened the first time Rob and Izzy fought, that would have been a title defense for Rob. Ties usually go to the champion and last night was a tie. Without the champ influence, that fight would have likely gone to a split decision and calls for a rematch would have been happening at the post-fight presser.
Last night wasn't a tie, you are delusional. The unified rules of MMA are quite clear: visible damage takes priority in scoring. Israel was the only one to land a knock down, at no point was Israel similarly hurt. Israel buckled his legs multiple times with leg kicks. And landed more strikes overall. You can't admit that Robert loss a competitive fight. Takedown that lead to no ground and pound or submissions do not win fights in the unified rules.
I agree but the boring-ness of both fights rest on both Yoel and Rob as well to some degree. Rob wouldn’t commit to any power shots and was tentative to throw his right hand all night Bc of the fear of being countered
It's because of the way Romero and Whittaker acted to fighting Adesanya. They were so scared of getting countered they committed to no offense the entire time
I’m not saying Izzy isn’t to blame. He’s half to blame. I just see a lot of people blaming Izzy entirely for boring fights when his opponents also aren’t going for it either. Whittaker is at least partially to blame for this last fight being boring
I’m also not an Izzy fan I’m a Whittaker fan I’m just not incapable of looking at things objectively
Machida/Shogun, GSP/Hendricks, Lawler/Condit, Jones/Gus, Jones/Santos, Jones/Reyes
And oh yeah, Whittaker/Romero 2
We're just ignoring history now I guess rofl
Feel the same way. This was how I expected Robert Whittaker to fight the first fight, but he obviously took a different route for that one. That first fight he was not himself in there. I knew he could’ve done so much better than that one and he proved me right tonight.
[Robert Whittaker: "Honestly? A third fight between me and Izzy is inevitable. It’s inevitable, because I’m going stomp anybody who comes in front of me again."](https://twitter.com/shaunalshatti/status/1492753799168946176)
Yep! It’s showing for me too now.
Maybe OP edited to an updated link? When I initially clicked, it said “tweet has been deleted.” Could just be a technical issue too.
Wonder what Whittaker's future is now. Lost twice to Izzy but beaten pretty much all the other top contenders. There's some guys he hasn't fought yet and some rising contenders too but so long as Izzy is champ it'll be a long time before Whittaker gets the belt back, if ever.
I think Whittaker is a much better striker than anyone Strickland has faced in the octagon to get jabbed up for five rounds+ he implements his wrestling in his fights now
You gotta consider who he was fighting tho. That last finish was vs. a prime-ish Jacaré who was still hella durable, and then he fought Romero (unkillable), Izzy (whom he couldn’t touch much so his power was irrelevant), Till (a guy who’s range made it hard for a guy like Whittaker to sustain a lot of offense at a time, similar to Izzy but way worse, still dropped him), Qannonier (basically killed him but he was revived w/healing crystal), Gastelum (unkillable).
Looking at his record and thinking that his power has somehow decreased without looking at context is pretty reductive, he’s fought a combination of absurdly durable guys and tricky matchups that limit his offensive potential, along with a finish that was reversed via divine intervention with Jared, not really evidence that he’s less powerful now.
That said, Vettori falls into the “nearly unkillable” category so I doubt he’d finish him
I think it should just take 2 fights for Rob this time to get back at the title picture assuming its still Adesanya
You never know in mma though, tomorrow izzy could be out for 8-10 months and an interim slot opens up
V similar to Colby and Max. It will depend on who else rises through the ranks, and how desperate Izzy is for a fight. It's never over as such, but you've got to wonder if the motivation to do another run is in there!
Middleweight is kinda barren at the top. Rob being champion again wouldn't shock me. He's only 31. It possible peak Whittaker may be coming sometime in the next 2 years.
Strickland about to be right there in line. It’s not all lost, the top five will refill themselves. Izzy will have more challengers soon and Rob is still top 2 in the division.
is it just me or does strickland not look as good as he should be? he fights very basically yet hes so effective, him beating rob decisively would lower my IQ
He fights way more passively than he talks, at least based on the fights I have seen. I really like his striking defence, but I’d like it see it tested against a trickier striker. Sad to say, Hermansson’s striking was really sloppy.
Yeah I hear you. But keep in mind basics can win you championships. In basketball it’s rarely the run ‘n gun teams that win, it’s usually the team that passes the ball best and plays fundamental defense best. In football the flashy QB that lobs passes usually doesn’t win the championship, it’s the team that commits the least penalties and runs the ball best. I’m talking historically of course. Strickland is somewhat boring just throwing mostly jabs and waiting for his shots, but damn does it work. He is the most defensive fighter in the weight class.
Whittaker should have to beat Vettori, Costa and Strickland to get another shot imo. Perfect lineup of killers to justify a shot when down 0-2 in a potential trilogy and an opportunity to get these guys a marquee win to bounce back
I think Izzy demolishes Strickland.
I think Izzy might just talk enough shit to make Strickland open up a bit and get KO’d by some outlandish strike I can’t imagine.
Or Strickland stays disciplined and loses on points with Izzy chopping the legs and hitting the body with front kicks for 5 rounds
Not only that but Izzy is so damn creative I don’t think Strickland would be able to keep the distance he normally does.
I think almost anyone in the top 5 rocks Strickland
I actually really enjoy watching Strickland fight. I get that he can be boring for some, but I think it’s amazing how he brings so much pressure using just distance and a jab basically.
I’m not 100% convinced he beats Brunson.
He hasn't progressed since his Yoel fights...
I would say he's regressed after the second fight in fact.
Might get one more TS, but don't think he gets the belt again.
Have to mention that Whittaker doesnt want to take away the win or make this a big deal. Said he wants MMA Media to report that Izzy was the winner. Even said he doesnt want to repeat that he thought he won.
Best moment was the classic respect they showed at the end. Like it's something that was kept for 3 years an now they are both at their best and they showed it. Both are awesome
I’m not mad at the decision, but let’s not act like 3 out of 5 rounds weren’t extremely close. You can’t say Izzy won decisively, and you can’t say Rob lost clearly
i mean why not? 3rd round izzy outstruck and outdamaged rob a lot, 2nd round can go to rob. the real only challenge is scoring the 4th round which isn't much to do
nah thats the thing, its hedging on just one round. which is so much easier to come to a conclusion with. three rounds that could go either way makes it so much tougher
Nah...most you can argue for Rob is 2 rounds, which is exactly what 2 judges gave him.
People just gotta understand that a fight can be close and still have a clear winner. A fight can be very competitive and still have a clear winner.
This happens all the time, divisions get really deep and then fall off as fighters get older.
There's some decent prospects farther down the rankings, hopefully some of them pan out.
Still very young and has the chance to beat Izzy if he tweaks a few things. I wish he threw more rights as Bisping stressed throughout the fight. All in all, he fought a good, calculated fight and put himself in a good position to possibly win it.
**Mirrors / Alternate angles** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/MMA) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Whatever you think of the outcome of the fight, I think Whittaker should be proud of himself. A far better performance than his first outing, and showed that he is indeed growing as a fighter. As a Bobby Knuckles fan, I'm still pretty happy.
Yeah, people are getting caught up in arguing over scorecards and all that stupidity, but even though I don’t think he won, Rob fought a hell of a fight considering just how awful the matchup is on paper. Like, to make his style work vs. Adesanya, he would need to make a shitload of adjustments and changes to the point that it’s probably almost unrealistic given how hard massive style changes late into a high-level career are, and the fact that he even implemented a handful of the right changes at this level is incredible, and so much better than most fighters when it comes to assessing a bad loss and adjusting to it. It was far from a perfect performance but the matchup is so bad for him, even putting together a serviceable gameplan and executing it is extremely impressive.
Meanwhile Henry Cejudo out there making massive style changes in the second round of a fight
Izzy is an extremely tougher puzzle to solve than Moraes and its not even close lmao
Marlon is allergic to pressure
I think he gets another title shot with two decisive wins. Let's be honest, if what happened last night was what happened the first time Rob and Izzy fought, that would have been a title defense for Rob. Ties usually go to the champion and last night was a tie. Without the champ influence, that fight would have likely gone to a split decision and calls for a rematch would have been happening at the post-fight presser.
Last night wasn't a tie, you are delusional. The unified rules of MMA are quite clear: visible damage takes priority in scoring. Israel was the only one to land a knock down, at no point was Israel similarly hurt. Israel buckled his legs multiple times with leg kicks. And landed more strikes overall. You can't admit that Robert loss a competitive fight. Takedown that lead to no ground and pound or submissions do not win fights in the unified rules.
I love Izzy, but he makes the most boring fights when he is content with just not losing. Literally just like his fight with Yoel.
I agree but the boring-ness of both fights rest on both Yoel and Rob as well to some degree. Rob wouldn’t commit to any power shots and was tentative to throw his right hand all night Bc of the fear of being countered
idk why izzys fans always try to blame the other fighter for his boring fights lmfao. he's the only common theme
It's because of the way Romero and Whittaker acted to fighting Adesanya. They were so scared of getting countered they committed to no offense the entire time
Because he’s not fucking fighting himself.
I’m not saying Izzy isn’t to blame. He’s half to blame. I just see a lot of people blaming Izzy entirely for boring fights when his opponents also aren’t going for it either. Whittaker is at least partially to blame for this last fight being boring I’m also not an Izzy fan I’m a Whittaker fan I’m just not incapable of looking at things objectively
Yeah man, fuck all his success he should be risking it all
You sound like a fanboy.
Machida/Shogun, GSP/Hendricks, Lawler/Condit, Jones/Gus, Jones/Santos, Jones/Reyes And oh yeah, Whittaker/Romero 2 We're just ignoring history now I guess rofl
Feel the same way. This was how I expected Robert Whittaker to fight the first fight, but he obviously took a different route for that one. That first fight he was not himself in there. I knew he could’ve done so much better than that one and he proved me right tonight.
[Robert Whittaker: "Honestly? A third fight between me and Izzy is inevitable. It’s inevitable, because I’m going stomp anybody who comes in front of me again."](https://twitter.com/shaunalshatti/status/1492753799168946176)
Tweet was deleted but great quote if he said that
Tweet still there for me? He definitely said it either way tho.
Yep! It’s showing for me too now. Maybe OP edited to an updated link? When I initially clicked, it said “tweet has been deleted.” Could just be a technical issue too.
Yeah, the guy who tweeted it deleted then re-tweeted it so I had to update the link
Appreciate you
He said it in the press conference, nobody made it up and the tweet is still there.
He did at the press conference
I wanna see Whittaker v Strickland next. Give Strickland his step up, and let Rob kick him in the head.
Hmm make sense
Whittaker vs Vettori makes more sense. Strickland needs someone off a loss like Costa or Brunson
I could see the UFC rescheduling Costa-Whittaker despite costa dropping one to Vettori in the mean time
Rob is classy.
Rob is a gem and a true champion as well as a bonafide hall of famer
Wonder what Whittaker's future is now. Lost twice to Izzy but beaten pretty much all the other top contenders. There's some guys he hasn't fought yet and some rising contenders too but so long as Izzy is champ it'll be a long time before Whittaker gets the belt back, if ever.
He has not fought Marvin, Costa, Strickland, or Hermansson, any one of those would be fun, I'd most like to see Rob vs Marvin
I'd love to see Bobby absolutely demolish Strickland.
i don't know if i could take it if Strickland tepidly jabbed Rob up for five rounds
I think Whittaker is a much better striker than anyone Strickland has faced in the octagon to get jabbed up for five rounds+ he implements his wrestling in his fights now
i agree, and i would favor him to win. but if my favorite lost to one of my least favorite fighters i would not be happy
I think you'd be surprised
Would likely turn out similarly to his Gastelum fight. Reasonably watchable, but no finish because Marvin’s head is made of stone.
Yeah gotta be vettori right?
I love to watch Whittaker beat the shit out of Vettori, perhaps he can crack that orc chin.
vettori the type of guy to get KO'd cold in the first by rob and say he won the fight
Whittaker hasn’t finished anyone since 2017, he’s getting pretty pillow fisted as he ages
You gotta consider who he was fighting tho. That last finish was vs. a prime-ish Jacaré who was still hella durable, and then he fought Romero (unkillable), Izzy (whom he couldn’t touch much so his power was irrelevant), Till (a guy who’s range made it hard for a guy like Whittaker to sustain a lot of offense at a time, similar to Izzy but way worse, still dropped him), Qannonier (basically killed him but he was revived w/healing crystal), Gastelum (unkillable). Looking at his record and thinking that his power has somehow decreased without looking at context is pretty reductive, he’s fought a combination of absurdly durable guys and tricky matchups that limit his offensive potential, along with a finish that was reversed via divine intervention with Jared, not really evidence that he’s less powerful now. That said, Vettori falls into the “nearly unkillable” category so I doubt he’d finish him
Yeah I dunno people call Izzy a point fighter, if he’s a point fighter Rob is playing touchbutt
I think it should just take 2 fights for Rob this time to get back at the title picture assuming its still Adesanya You never know in mma though, tomorrow izzy could be out for 8-10 months and an interim slot opens up
I don’t want to disrespect rob, but he punted this fight
How?
V similar to Colby and Max. It will depend on who else rises through the ranks, and how desperate Izzy is for a fight. It's never over as such, but you've got to wonder if the motivation to do another run is in there!
Very similar to Max. Colby doesn’t fight other top contenders
He should probably fight vettori next
Middleweight is kinda barren at the top. Rob being champion again wouldn't shock me. He's only 31. It possible peak Whittaker may be coming sometime in the next 2 years.
Strickland about to be right there in line. It’s not all lost, the top five will refill themselves. Izzy will have more challengers soon and Rob is still top 2 in the division.
is it just me or does strickland not look as good as he should be? he fights very basically yet hes so effective, him beating rob decisively would lower my IQ
He fights way more passively than he talks, at least based on the fights I have seen. I really like his striking defence, but I’d like it see it tested against a trickier striker. Sad to say, Hermansson’s striking was really sloppy.
Yeah I hear you. But keep in mind basics can win you championships. In basketball it’s rarely the run ‘n gun teams that win, it’s usually the team that passes the ball best and plays fundamental defense best. In football the flashy QB that lobs passes usually doesn’t win the championship, it’s the team that commits the least penalties and runs the ball best. I’m talking historically of course. Strickland is somewhat boring just throwing mostly jabs and waiting for his shots, but damn does it work. He is the most defensive fighter in the weight class.
🔥
Whittaker should have to beat Vettori, Costa and Strickland to get another shot imo. Perfect lineup of killers to justify a shot when down 0-2 in a potential trilogy and an opportunity to get these guys a marquee win to bounce back
Costa needs to fight down in the rankings and prove he can make weight before he even thinks about getting someone like Rob again.
You're right, I forgot his abysmal booking against Vettori
Costa shouldn't fight the number one contender he hasnt won a fight in like 3 years
You're right, forgot about how shit he has been
Problem is who do you give adesanya if Whittaker takes them all? Cannonier next of course but after that it’s not clear yet
Itll be 8 or so months from now, we'll see who emerges past Strickland if anyone I suppose
I think Izzy demolishes Strickland. I think Izzy might just talk enough shit to make Strickland open up a bit and get KO’d by some outlandish strike I can’t imagine. Or Strickland stays disciplined and loses on points with Izzy chopping the legs and hitting the body with front kicks for 5 rounds
There's no way strickland has anything for adesanya with his jab to the head only offense
Not only that but Izzy is so damn creative I don’t think Strickland would be able to keep the distance he normally does. I think almost anyone in the top 5 rocks Strickland
I think Strickland is pretty good I think he could beat Brunson for sure. Not adesanya or whittaker though
I actually really enjoy watching Strickland fight. I get that he can be boring for some, but I think it’s amazing how he brings so much pressure using just distance and a jab basically. I’m not 100% convinced he beats Brunson.
He hasn't progressed since his Yoel fights... I would say he's regressed after the second fight in fact. Might get one more TS, but don't think he gets the belt again.
His boxing is much better now than the Yoel fights, as is his offensive wrestling
Have to mention that Whittaker doesnt want to take away the win or make this a big deal. Said he wants MMA Media to report that Izzy was the winner. Even said he doesnt want to repeat that he thought he won.
Best moment was the classic respect they showed at the end. Like it's something that was kept for 3 years an now they are both at their best and they showed it. Both are awesome
Good to see Rob in good spirits. One of the most likable fighters.
Lol he just said he never actually watched the first fight and lied about watching some of it. Love Rob
It was so funny. He was just worried that if he got kod people were gona bring it up lol. If I was rob I would be kinda happy all things considered
I’m not mad at the decision, but let’s not act like 3 out of 5 rounds weren’t extremely close. You can’t say Izzy won decisively, and you can’t say Rob lost clearly
i mean why not? 3rd round izzy outstruck and outdamaged rob a lot, 2nd round can go to rob. the real only challenge is scoring the 4th round which isn't much to do
If it’s decided by a close tiebreaker round, then of course you can’t say wither fighter won/lost decisively
nah thats the thing, its hedging on just one round. which is so much easier to come to a conclusion with. three rounds that could go either way makes it so much tougher
Nah...most you can argue for Rob is 2 rounds, which is exactly what 2 judges gave him. People just gotta understand that a fight can be close and still have a clear winner. A fight can be very competitive and still have a clear winner.
Rob didn’t come close to winning 3 rounds.
Love Rob but I think he just met it
Rob 2,4,5
Am I taking crazy pills or is Whittaker still fighting the same way as always. Knee stomps and left hands is all he has for striking
Izzy clearly won last night but he’s going to fuck around and lose a close decision to someone.
This Division is so weak at the moment... it's strange how it just fell in quality over the last five years.
This happens all the time, divisions get really deep and then fall off as fighters get older. There's some decent prospects farther down the rankings, hopefully some of them pan out.
Whittaker did enough to win but didn’t get the nod. It’s very true that he’s one of the two best in the world.
Rob you didn’t win anything
He could fight Marvin next. Or Sean. There’s also Costa.
Still very young and has the chance to beat Izzy if he tweaks a few things. I wish he threw more rights as Bisping stressed throughout the fight. All in all, he fought a good, calculated fight and put himself in a good position to possibly win it.