Israel Adesanya expects to see Robert Whittaker “beat the brakes” off Ikram Aliskerov.
Moving into the primary occasion highlight on Saturday night time in Saudi Arabia, ‘The Reaper’ was anticipated to sq. off with undefeated Chechen monster Khamzat Chimaev in a bout that had title eliminator written throughout it. Sadly, that’s now not the case after ‘Borz’ grew to become “violently sick” per week forward of combat night time.
Changing Chimaev will likely be Russian standout Ikram Aliskerov who will likely be making his third stroll to the Octagon after a few stellar first-round finishes in opposition to Phil Hawes and Warlley Alves.
If he can rating a win in opposition to Whittaker in Riyadh, he’ll thrust himself from an unranked newcomer to a reliable top-five contender.
‘The Final Stylebender’ doesn’t see that occuring.
“This can be a banger of a combat,” Adesanya mentioned of Whittaker vs. Aliskerov on his YouTube channel. “Additionally, this man [Aliskerov], who did he final beat? Warlley Alves. It’s an enormous step up in competitors although in opposition to Rob. Rob is a former champion, nonetheless on the hunt, nonetheless harmful. I’m selecting Rob on this combat.
“I believe Robert goes to beat the brakes off this man from Spherical 2 onwards. I believe Rob will get previous Spherical 1, he begins to place it on this man, he’s going to really feel a special beast. However, who is aware of? We’ll see. We haven’t seen him in opposition to competitors like this but. I simply know the way good Rob is so, I’m going to go Rob in all probability [Round] 3 or 4 TKO.”
Robert Whittaker may safe a title combat with a win at UFC Saudi Arabia
Adesanya is aware of firsthand simply how robust Robert Whittaker is, having thrown arms with the New Zealander on two separate events. The ‘Stylebender’ got here out on prime in each cases, however ‘The Reaper’ is satisfied that he can get the job executed given a 3rd alternative.
With a win over Aliskerov, Whittaker could get that likelihood—relying on how issues play out when Adesanya returns to problem reigning middleweight world champion Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 305 on August 17.
