Coach: 'Better Version of GSP' Robert Whittaker Can Take Advantage of Adesanya on Ground

Though he won the UFC middleweight title over two years ago, Robert Whittaker has yet to put his belt on the line, thanks to Yoel Romero missing weight for their title bout, followed by Whittaker’s injury-induced withdrawal from a scheduled defense against Kelvin Gastelum in February.

Despite the setbacks, the Australian is finally ready to go and he’ll be facing off against interim champion Israel Adesanya next month at UFC 243 in the biggest fight in Australian combat sports history, which will take place inside Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium.

In the lead-up to the monumental event, Whittaker’s long time jiu-jitsu coach Alex Prates broke down how the fight may play out and expressed his belief that whoever dictates the pace of the fight will probably come out the winner, given the immense skillset of both fighters (via MMAFighting.com):

“Maybe you’ll see Robert Whittaker using a style that I think is the one that suits him better but he never really needed it because it was always comfortable for him on the feet for most of his fights,” Prates said. “With Yoel Romero, for example, it would have been stupid to try to take him down. But Robert has great wrestling and great timing. I honestly think Robert is a better version of GSP. And we might see this now.”

“If Adesanya dictates the rhythm of the fight the way he likes to do, like he did against Anderson Silva, it’s going to be a good fight for him and he will probably win by decision,” Prates said. “Now, if Robert takes that away from him, his ability to dictate the pace, it will be bad for him. If they grapple, if there’s a bit of mixed martial arts in the fight, a bit of wrestling and striking, Robert won’t get tired.

“I think that Robert is technically superior on the ground and with his wrestling. I won’t say Robert’s striking is superior, but it’s definitely on the same level of Adesanya’s. I see many people saying that Adesanya is a better striker and I think that’s really unfair. If Robert hasn’t proved yet that he’s one of the best strikers of the division, I don’t know what else he needs to do.

“The main difference of Robert using his wrestling and ground game with Israel is that he doesn’t depend on the ground, if that makes sense. He can take Israel to the ground, but if Israel starts to scramble and gets back up, he doesn’t need to spend energy there. Let him get back up. That’s the difference from a jiu-jitsu fighter or a wrestler that depends on keeping him on the ground. That might get Israel worried about the takedowns as well, which makes it easier to land combinations on the feet. And also get him tired.”

Prates said he is under no illusion of the challenge that lies ahead for his fighter given Adesanya’s career as a highly decorated kickboxer but believes Whittaker is a better MMA fighter given his ability to blend all disciplines together:

“Robert defeated Romero twice. If you ask my personal opinion, my understanding of MMA, defeating Romero twice is a bigger feat than defeating Adesanya,” Prates said. “Israel definitely is a star here, but I think there’s a misunderstanding when people say he’s a new prospect. He’s older than Robert, he’s a veteran with more than 60 kickboxing fights. He’s super experienced, and that’s how we look at him. We don’t think his ground game is bad, that his wrestling is bad. He’s a MMA fighter. I just think that Robert combines it really well. When he combines his striking and wrestling, he’s really hard to read.”