Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker are ready to settle their longstanding rivalry once and for all at UFC 271 on Saturday, Feb. 12. Let's examine their big-time grudge match, beginning with the latest betting odds available.

Adesanya is seeking another definitive win over Whittaker

Adesanya left no doubt that he was the better fighter when these two previously met at UFC 243. Though Whittaker walked in with bad intentions, he was bounced off the canvas twice and stopped in the second. After a shocking loss to then light heavyweight champion Jan Błachowicz, he returned to middleweight and picked apart Marvin Vettori, who is more on Whittaker’s level.

Despite this, the consensus is that Adesanya is in for a tougher fight this time around. If Whittaker doesn’t make it easy for him by lunging in and fighting against his own strengths, Adesanya may have to dig deep.

Whittaker needs to implement a different game plan

Whittaker has admitted that prior to the UFC 243 bout, Adesanya got in his head. Indeed, Whittaker charged at Adesanya from the start and was pieced up something fierce before the stoppage. Since then, Whittaker has regrouped with three impressive wins to earn his shot at redemption.

Adesanya’s intelligence means Whittaker must develop an entirely different strategy geared around grappling and disrupting his rhythm. If he comes in with a clear head and is able to keep Adesanya uncomfortable with his grappling, he might have a shot.

Adesanya, unbeatable at middleweight, will win again

Theoretically speaking, Whittaker has a chance of beating Adesanya, but we could also theoretically assume an elephant can dangle from the side of a cliff with its tail tied around a daisy. Without the size advantage that Blachowicz had, Whittaker won’t be able to bully him around and won’t win the striking exchanges should they occur. Adesanya landed 42% of his total strikes on Whittaker the first time, and a methodical approach won’t deter him.

We wouldn’t put it past Whittaker to be a tougher out this time around, especially as he’s fully aware of what he did wrong in the first fight. What hasn’t changed from then is that nobody is going to beat Adesanya at middleweight unless he gets lazy or complacent. Expect this middleweight clash to go the distance, and Adesanya will score another big win at Whittaker’s expense.

UFC 271 pick: Adesanya