Francis Ngannou gives his prediction for Israel Adesanya vs. Robert Whittaker 2

Francis Ngannou believes Israel Adesanya is a clear favorite heading into his rematch against Robert Whittaker at UFC 271.

Then interim champ Adesanya unified the belt by knocking out then champion Whittaker at UFC 243 in October 2019. Adesanya vs. Whittaker 2 is now set for UFC 271 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas on February 12 this year.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ngannou stressed that 'The Last Stylebender' has already decoded Whittaker. He believes that Adesanya is one of the best strikers in the UFC and will remain the champion after UFC 271:

"Oh, Adesanya all day long. I mean Whittaker, he has the same trick and Adesanya even he broke it down [on his FREESTYLEBENDER YouTube channel last year]. Adesanya's striking is outstanding, man! Like when you look at this, you never know what is happening in the fight. Everything can happen in the fight but Adesanya he wins this fight nine times out of 10."

Watch Francis Ngannou preview the biggest fights of 2022 in the combat sports world below:

Adesanya holds a 21-1 record in his professional MMA career so far, while Whittaker is 23-5.

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Israel Adesanya has made three successful title defenses so far

Israel Adesanya has made three successful title defenses as the UFC middleweight champ so far. He also unsuccessfully challenged for the UFC light heavyweight belt once, against Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259 in March 2021.

The 32-year-old Nigerian-born New Zealander has defeated top contenders Yoel Romero, Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori in middleweight title bouts. Furthermore, he has racked up seven post-fight bonus awards till date.

Watch Adesanya get his hand raised by the referee after the rematch against Vettori below:

Adesanya is a former middleweight champion at the Australian Fighting Championship and Hex Fighting Series as well. He trains under head coach Eugene Bareman at the City Kickboxing gym in Auckland, New Zealand.