5 reasons why Robert Whittaker is more skilled than Israel Adesanya

#4. Robert Whittaker is a better wrestler

Robert Whittaker is an accomplished freestyle wrestler whose credentials include gold medals in Australia's national wrestling championships and the Australia Cup. The strength of Whittaker's wrestling is such that he outwrestled a more experienced wrestler in Kelvin Gastelum while also defending Yoel Romero's takedown attempts. As one of the core facets of MMA, wrestling is a martial art that enables fighters to control the rules of engagement in any bout.

Not only is Whittaker an accomplished wrestler, but his wrestling is consequential and is well-integrated in his overall fighting system. For example, 'The Reaper' uses his jab to create openings for his takedowns. After landing enough stinging jabs, Robert Whittaker sticks another jab to his foes, shoving them with it as he wraps his alternate hand behind their knee to pick up their leg.

Once his opponent is standing on one leg, the Australian steps forward while pushing them with his jab and raising their trapped leg to his waist, upsetting their balance as he runs them to the ground. In another setup, he uses his left hook. Since a fighter must be close enough to be struck by his opponent's left hook in order to land their own, Robert Whittaker weaponizes this understanding. He fakes the left hook to draw his foe's counter-left hook.

The moment his opponent commits to their counter-left hook and squares their hips, Robert Whittaker ducks under the punch for an easy double-leg. Meanwhile, Adesanya does not possess nearly the same depth of technique.

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#3. Robert Whittaker is a superior grappler

Adesanya is and will likely always be a kickboxer. He has no interest in veering away from his successful kickboxing game. After all, why should he when it has rendered him all but unbeatable at middleweight? Unfortunately, doing so does have its own detriments. For example, whenever Adesanya concedes a takedown, he has a bad habit of turning onto his stomach to push off of his hands and feet to stand himself back up.

This exposes his back and will almost certainly be targeted by a skilled back-taker the moment the Nigerian starts a scramble after a takedown. While Whittaker is no Demian Maia, he is far more skilled on the ground. The Australian has earned five wins by submission and possesses a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu compared to Adesanya's purple belt. On the ground, he exhibits commendable positional grappling, using underhooks to control his opponent's posture.

Even Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza, one of the greatest grapplers in MMA history, was unable to do much of anything to Robert Whittaker on the ground due to the Australian's surprising skill. 'The Reaper' frequently traps one of his foe's legs with his own, while hand-trapping to neutralize their defense in an effort to open them up to elbows and punches.