Whittaker backs Adesanya to beat Magomedov if he can conquer his own demons first

Robert Whittaker has backed Israel Adesanya to defeat Shara Magomedov at UFC Saudi Arabia on December 5, but warned that the former two-time middleweight champion’s greatest obstacle heading into the ANB Arena in Riyadh is his own consistency, not his opponent.

Adesanya enters the main event on a four-fight losing streak — the worst run of his professional career — and Whittaker, who fought him twice for the middleweight title between 2019 and 2022, says he is watching with genuine concern. “I don’t like this. I don’t like it,” Whittaker said on the MMArcade podcast.

Despite that anxiety, the Australian is not writing Adesanya off. He pointed to the opening exchanges of Adesanya’s recent bout with Nassourdine Imavov as proof that the tools are still there. “If Israel comes on like he did at the beginning of Imavov, this is a technical fight he can win. He can beat Shara across the park. Shara’s not going for a takedown. If this is in pure standup ability, Israel’s phenomenal.”

The problem, Whittaker argues, is sustaining that level for a full fight. “Like Imavov, he started so well. I can’t help but feel he didn’t sustain that vision; he didn’t sustain the focus for the entire fight.”

Whittaker and Adesanya were fierce rivals across their two title fights — Adesanya won both — but the pair have since become friends and occasional training partners. That closeness makes Whittaker’s assessment all the more pointed. “I think the real fight here is Israel vs. himself,” he said. “I want to see Izzy come in the way Izzy of old did — his head switched on, focused, laser-focused — and I think he beats the brakes off Shara, to be honest. Yeah, I have Israel all day.”

For Magomedov, the unbeaten knockout artist known as Shara Bullet, the comments amount to a back-handed compliment: his opponent’s mental state is considered a bigger threat than anything he brings to the cage. Whether Adesanya can rediscover the relentless focus that defined his title reign will likely determine the outcome when the two meet in Riyadh.