Tomorrow night in the co-main event of UFC Paris, we are going to see a battle between the top two middleweight contenders in the world. Former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker (23-6) returns as he takes on “The Italian Dream” Marvin Vettori (18-4-1).
Make no mistake about it, these two are two of the very best middleweights in the world. They are also both in a very difficult spot having both lost to the champion twice. The last loss for Vettori coming at UFC 263 last June.
Vettori was largely one-step behind Adesanya all night and lost a decision. However, he was able to bounce back strong against Paulo Costa and win a decision. He’s hoping to pick up the massive win over Whittaker tomorrow and make it two in a row.
The last time we saw Bobby Knuckles was at UFC 271 back in February. He took on Israel Adesanya and the fight was relatively close. However, Whittaker ultimately fell short by decision. The loss was just his second in the middleweight division, both to Adesanya.
UFC Paris Prediction
When it comes to this fight at UFC Paris, I’m really curious to see the game plan of Vettori. I think that he’s going to fight with a lot of pressure and he’s going to need that. However, is he going to use his pressure as a means to set up his strikes or is he going to try and use his wrestling?
I think it will be a little of both. That said, I think that this fight will take place on the feet for the most part. In that arena, the fight really favors Robert Whittaker. Whittaker has much better footwork and he’s much faster in terms of his striking. He’s also much more diverse in his striking attack.
If Vettori can neutralize the space and make this a very ugly/boring fight, he has a real chance to win a decision. However, if they are at range just enough, Whittaker is going to have many more moments which should allow the former UFC champ to get the victory. I’m going with the latter of the two.
Prediction: Robert Whittaker by Decision