Israel Adesanya thinks Robert Whittaker will run through Ikram Aliskerov.
Whittaker (25-7 MMA, 16-5 UFC) meets Aliskerov (15-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC on ABC 6 (ABC/ESPN/ESPN+) main event at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Adesanya has history with Whittaker after beating him twice in title fights – once by knockout at UFC 243, and the second time in a competitive decision win at UFC 271.
Adesanya expects Whittaker to eventually take over against the far less experienced Aliskerov, who stepped in as a late replacement for Khamzat Chimaev on nine days’ notice.
“This is a banger of a fight,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. “Also, this guy (Aliskerov), who did he last beat? Warlley Alves. It’s a big step up in competition though against Rob. Rob is a former champion, still on the hunt, still dangerous. I’m picking Rob in this fight.
“I think Robert is going to beat the brakes off this guy from Round 2 onwards. I think Rob gets past Round 1, he starts to put it on this guy, he’s going to feel a different beast. But, who knows? We’ll see. We haven’t seen him against competition like this yet. I just know how good Rob is so, I’m going to go Rob probably (Round) 3 or 4 TKO.”
Adesanya is gearing up for a middleweight title fight against champion Dricus Du Plessis in the UFC 305 main event Aug. 17 in Perth, Australia. “The Last Stylebender” will attempt to become a three-time UFC middleweight champion.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ABC 6.
