Israel Adesanya vs Robert Whittaker Preview (UFC 271)
Aotearoa's 2022 UFC journey starts with a Israel Adesanya vs Robert Whittaker rematch headlining UFC 271, Carlos Ulberg making his second UFC appearance and Mike 'Blood Diamond' Mathetha making his UFC debut this weekend. That's a pretty epic opening event for Kiwi-MMA mahi and comes after a niggly 2021 in which Kai Kara-France was the only City Kickboxing fighter with a winning record.
Team CKB have rolled through two years of pandemic things with their mana amplified. This felt like it had a slight impact on results and Team CKB mana is such that there are no excuses. Under kaumatua Eugene Bareman, it's all about getting the job done and over the last two years this has meant trying to train during multiple lockdowns as well as scraping together a coaching team for each fighter regardless of where or when they are fighting. The fact that Team CKB maintain their UFC levels is nothing but admirable.
2022 offers a fresh vibe and I'm going to zone in on Adesanya here. Stay tuned for the Ulberg/Mathetha previews ahead of Sunday afternoon's event (NZT). Starting 2022 with the Adesanya vs Whittaker rematch is fantastic and while Adesanya celebrates Dan Hooker as the skipper of Team CKB, it's Adesanya who is the UFC superstar.
Part of the intrigue with this fight involves Adesanya's UFC future. Overnight it was announced that Adesanya had signed a new deal with the UFC for more fights and as we are dealing with the UFC, there isn't much transparency around these contracts. I have steadily noted in podcasts and our email dispatches that Adesanya was coming off-contract with the UFC this year, although there was no concrete public information about the number of fights remaining in that deal.
Now there is no information on how many fights are in Adesanya's new UFC deal, but the deal is done and that's the most important thing. All of which is notable given UFC business practices that were given headline status a few weeks ago with Francis Ngannou (unresolved) and the constant flow of information highlighting how little the UFC pays its fighters. Why do UFC fighters want to have boxing bouts? They can double, triple, quadruple their fight purse.
With my Aotearoa bias riding alongside me, I reckon Adesanya is the biggest UFC star right now. Check his social media, check his Youtube, check his brand deals. These immediately put Adesanya as Aotearoa's biggest, brightest sporting star and his online presence is only matched by 'Suga' Sean O'Malley. This all means that Adesanya has immense leverage and during his journey Adesanya dabbled in boxing; Adesanya has a world of opportunities at his feet.
Adesanya signed on to stay with the UFC for an undisclosed number of fights. This now frames the Whittaker fight and my read on Adesanya re-signing is that he wants to be a pure champion in the sense that he defends his crown, battling one contender and then the next. That's mana and in the current climate, Adesanya's ideals are nothing but admirable.
Of course Adesanya can also move through different weight-classes to further his mana. This was the vibe for his loss to Jan Blachowicz and with his new deal, there is a clear future for Adesanya in the UFC. Adesanya can stack up title defences and when the stars align, Adesanya can take a fight in a different weight class.
That's if Adesanya defeats Whittaker. If Adesanya loses, then he will look for a trilogy fight (surely in Australia or Aotearoa) and the same clarity exists in a different way. A loss will see Adesanya tap into his mana and do what is required to claim the championship again.
Adesanya and Whittaker are both 4-1 in their last five fights. Whittaker's loss was against Adesanya, while Adesanya's loss was to Blachowicz in the heavier division. Since losing to Adesanya, Whittaker stormed through three impressive wins against Darren Till, Jarrod Cannonier and Kelvin Gastelum. Adesanya had the weird win over Yoel Romero, while dispatching Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori around the loss to Blachowicz.
Adesanya will have to deal with a different challenge from Whittaker. Whittaker has grown as a bloke and also has a wide range of skills, perhaps the best range of skills to challenge Adesanya. From the Blachowicz loss a seed was planted that Adesanya can fall victim to grappling, to slick wrestling and jiu-jitsu. Whittaker's growth will ensure that he does not lunge forward as he did in losing to Adesanya, then Whittaker will use his variety of strikes to set up takedown entries or pick at Adesanya without getting into Adesanya's counter-attack range.
This presents a tough test for Adesanya and Team CKB's coaching staff, the type of challenge we love to see as mana gets amplified even further. This fight also throws up an intriguing juncture for Adesanya's career in the UFC as leverage can be fickle and winning is crucial. Adesanya's rise is complete, now we enter the phase where Adesanya defends his castle from constant attack and like the others approaching Winterfell, Whittaker presents a funky challenge in funky times for Aotearoa's champ.
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Peace and love.