GDT: UFC 243 Whittaker v Adesanya

[I am not exposed]

Maybe I'm remembering wrong. Wouldn't be the first time

Ha, maybe I'm remembering it incorrectly. But I thought it was a good performance.

 

[LyricalLyricist]

Ha, maybe I'm remembering it incorrectly. But I thought it was a good performance.

It was a close fight. Nothing dominant. Fun fight though.

 

[Peter Griffin]

I didn’t think he had the power to ko a guy like Whittaker. Kudos to Adesanya, he looked fantastic tonight.

 

[Neutrinos]

Not sure what he did for his entrance, but his post-fight dance celebration immediately following the KO was enough to turn me off as a fan

 

[BGDDYKWL]

Not an Adesanya fan but he's great for the sport. He's essentially a mix between Anderson and Conor.

I know it's easy to say sitting on my couch but I'll never understand why fighters try to close distance while throwing looping shots. You close distance with head movement with your hands glued to your chin and then unload once you've gotten within your range. You don't throw while getting to that range.

Whittaker felt he did well til he got caught. I didn't get the same feeling. He was looping and sloppy and missing a ton, allowing Adesanya to get his timing and distance.

Costa is an absolute beast but for him to win he needs to close distance, THEN unload, otherwise I have no doubt if he's aggressive, flailing and missing, that we'll see a repeat of tonight. Can't wait for that fight.

 

[Neutrinos]

 

[Avs_19]

Adesanya looked great and made it look much easier than I thought it was going to be. Whittaker also played into his strengths by carelessly moving towards a great counter striker over and over again. It was surprising that he didn't change his strategy between rounds after getting caught at the end of the first round in a similar exchange.

It's funny seeing people get all bent out of shape and hoping Adesanya had lost because he dared to have some fun before his fight. He's great for the sport and is going to be a star.

This actually ended up being an entertaining card. Hooker looked good, the De Castro walk off KO was awesome, and the Riddell/Mullarkey fight was fun as well.

 

[1specter]

Honestly this was awesome IDC.

Was sad to see Robert lose, such a classy and genuine guy. However, I think those wars against Romero did some serious damage to his chin unfortunately. If round 1 was like 5 seconds longer he would've been finished for sure. He's still only 28 but I wonder if he's just taken too much damage and he's going to be chinny going forward like Luke Rockhold became.

 

[1specter]

I didn’t think he had the power to ko a guy like Whittaker. Kudos to Adesanya, he looked fantastic tonight.

It's not so much about the power but the accuracy of his strikes. He almost always hits the right spots and he often gets the chin cleanly.

 

[m9]

Ha, maybe I'm remembering it incorrectly. But I thought it was a good performance.

It was an excellent performance by Costa. It wasn't dominant or anything, but he was fighting Yoel Romero so being dominant is a pretty tough ask.

 

[pistolpete11]

Late to watching this one. I ended up only watching the main and co-main. Not surprised that Stylebender or Hooker won, but I was surprised how they won.

I didn't think Stylebender dominated as much as some people seem to think. The first round was really close until the knock down (and let's be serious, it was a KO if the round was 2 seconds longer) and I thought Whitaker landed some decent shots early in the second. Not taking anything away from Stylebender, he played his game perfectly and got the KO, but it wasn't like he just washed him out like Hooker did to Al.

For Hooker-Al, Al is a good, all-around fighter, but he just doesn't have that + tool. If you have a weakness, he can maybe exploit it, but if you are decent all round yourself and have a + tool, he can be beat. I think that's what we saw. Hooker is a pretty good fighter and is a better, more explosive striker.

I for one thought the Stylebender entrance was lame. It didn't change anything about how I felt about him or this fight or anything, but it was just kind of lame and corny if you ask me. I guess it's cool that the UFC let him show off some of his personality, but I also hope Dana keeps his no entrance performances rule. It could get out of hand very quickly if they start letting everybody do something like that.

Honestly this was awesome IDC.

Was sad to see Robert lose, such a classy and genuine guy. However, I think those wars against Romero did some serious damage to his chin unfortunately. If round 1 was like 5 seconds longer he would've been finished for sure. He's still only 28 but I wonder if he's just taken too much damage and he's going to be chinny going forward like Luke Rockhold became.

Maybe, but it's way too early to say that, IMO. Stylebender isn't a powerhouse by any means, but those were clean shots right on the button. As we've all seen, it's not always how hard you get hit, but where you get hit and whether or not you see it coming.

 

[1specter]

Maybe, but it's way too early to say that, IMO. Stylebender isn't a powerhouse by any means, but those were clean shots right on the button. As we've all seen, it's not always how hard you get hit, but where you get hit and whether or not you see it coming.

If you look at the post below the one you quoted you'll see that I said this exact same thing lol.

I agree, those were very clean shots. However, Whittaker took some serious punishment from Romero and was everything but knocked out in the 5th round eating bombs yet still managed to survive, however he gets hit clean once in the first round against Adesanya and was pretty much KOd.

Now it is early to say I agree, could've been other factors like a bad weight cut or camp or something like that, who knows. Still, the miles from fighting wars add up and once the chin starts to go it never really comes back. The one sort of exception I've seen is Stipe, he's been KOd twice (and Overeem could've finished him if he wasn't an idiot) but managed to come back and take hard shots fine in future fights and get the belt twice still.

 

[pistolpete11]

If you look at the post below the one you quoted you'll see that I said this exact same thing lol.

I agree, those were very clean shots. However, Whittaker took some serious punishment from Romero and was everything but knocked out in the 5th round eating bombs yet still managed to survive, however he gets hit clean once in the first round against Adesanya and was pretty much KOd.

Now it is early to say I agree, could've been other factors like a bad weight cut or camp or something like that, who knows. Still, the miles from fighting wars add up and once the chin starts to go it never really comes back. The one sort of exception I've seen is Stipe, he's been KOd twice (and Overeem could've finished him if he wasn't an idiot) but managed to come back and take hard shots fine in future fights and get the belt twice still.

Or he just got caught clean by a shot he didn't see coming from a damn good striker. It happens.

Stipe was actually the example I had in mind, too, but I was going to say Stipe took a shot from Francis (something that nobody else has been able to do), gets KOed by DC, and then eats a ton of DC's shots in the second fight. Why did he get KOed in the first DC fight? I'd say it's because he got caught clean on the chin by a shot he didn't see coming. The same thing just happened to Whitaker. I'm sure there's plenty of other examples of guys, too.

There's no denying he went through 2 wars with Yoel, although he's also had plenty of time off in between, and it can start to take a toll on you after a while, but I'm just saying it's too early to say it's started with Whitaker.

 

[Peter Sidorkiewicz]

Really weird fight but you have to appreciate how good Adesanya's defense is. Lots of swings and misses by Whittaker.

Round 1 - Adesanya got the round due to the last second knock down (which yes could of ended the fight if not for the horn). For the other 4:59 minutes, I thought Whittaker had the better striking exchanges and was probably going to win that round if he didnt get knocked down.

Round 2 - Was very similar to round 1. I thought Whittaker was outworking Adesanya until he got clipped.

However, should they rematch, Whittaker needs to go back and look at the tape and do something different next time. Adesanya was too good with his head movement, leaning back and avoiding shots. I think Whittaker needs to explore takedowns and beat Adesanya up on the ground.

Costa v Adesanya fight will be very interesting as Costa attacks the body more than what Whittaker does.

 

[m9]

To me it seemed like Adesanya spent much of the first round figuring out his range and then once he did he took over the fight. So yeah, the first round was even but there was a good reason for that. Anderson Silva used to do the same thing.

As for Whittaker, he's also coming off a pretty bad injury/surgery and you have to factor that into his performance. I have had the exact same injury/surgery and didn't feel 100% for about a year. We'll see how he looks in his next couple fights.

 

[I am not exposed]

To me it seemed like Adesanya spent much of the first round figuring out his range and then once he did he took over the fight. So yeah, the first round was even but there was a good reason for that. Anderson Silva used to do the same thing.

As for Whittaker, he's also coming off a pretty bad injury/surgery and you have to factor that into his performance. I have had the exact same injury/surgery and didn't feel 100% for about a year. We'll see how he looks in his next couple fights.

I would imagine Whittaker would get the winner of Gastelum and Till. Especially with the tweet that Gastelum posted before Whittakers fight this past weekend.

 

[Avs_19]

I would imagine Whittaker would get the winner of Gastelum and Till. Especially with the tweet that Gastelum posted before Whittakers fight this past weekend.

The winner of that fight would seem to make the most sense. I don't think Cannonier or even someone like Brunson would be the worst idea either to get him a more winnable fight after the surgery, long layoff, and KO this past weekend. Whatever they do, just don't make the Romero trilogy next because I don't think either guy needs that right now.

 

[m9]

I like the idea of Gastelum v Whittaker if Gastelum beats Till.

I'd also be fine with Cannonier v Romero.

 

[YNWA14]

Was a great card. Adesanya surprised me a bit or maybe Whittaker was just disappointing in his approach. Either way hats off to him; I think his trash y’all is a bit cringe but he backs it up unlike a lot of others.

Not an Adesanya fan but he's great for the sport. He's essentially a mix between Anderson and Conor.

I know it's easy to say sitting on my couch but I'll never understand why fighters try to close distance while throwing looping shots. You close distance with head movement with your hands glued to your chin and then unload once you've gotten within your range. You don't throw while getting to that range.

Whittaker felt he did well til he got caught. I didn't get the same feeling. He was looping and sloppy and missing a ton, allowing Adesanya to get his timing and distance.

Costa is an absolute beast but for him to win he needs to close distance, THEN unload, otherwise I have no doubt if he's aggressive, flailing and missing, that we'll see a repeat of tonight. Can't wait for that fight.

The reality is that the level of striking in terms of technique and execution is still on a pretty relatively low level in the UFC (which makes sense given the massive emphasis on wrestling).