Robert Whittaker wonders if Israel Adesanya will come back a different fighter after the longest layoff of his UFC career. Adesanya (24-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) went out of action for 11 months after losing his middleweight title to Sean Strickland last September at UFC 293. In the meantime, Dricus Du Plessis (21-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC) outlasted Strickland to claim the belt at UFC 297 . Now Adesanya will get an opportunity to reclaim his title when he challenges Du Plessis in Saturday’s UFC 305 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+ ) headliner at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia. Based off their most recent outings against common opponent Strickland, Whittaker sees a blueprint for Du Plessis to beat Adesanya. “Dricus, his last fight against Strickland, he moved forward, he put pressure on Strickland, didn’t let Strickland do that to him, shut his game down, was very aggressive, crowded that space, didn’t let Strickland really find the rhythm that he likes to fight in, and came away with the decision win,” Whittaker said on his “MMAracade Podcast.” “Strickland, prior to that fight, fought Adesanya and did exactly that to Israel: pushed into his space, didn’t allow Adesanya to utilize that dangerous space that he likes fighting in.
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