This coming Saturday, February 12th at UFC 271 in Houston will feature the much anticipated Adesanya vs Whittaker 2.

The two fighters met up back at UFC 243 in October 2019 with Adesanya (21-1 MMA) beating Whittaker (24-5 MMA) by a second round knockout.

Eugene Bareman, head coach of current middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, recently commented on why he doesn’t want Robert Whittaker to get knocked out in the upcoming match.

Bareman, speaking to ‘Submission Radio’ advised he would like to see Israel, ‘The Last Stylebender’, go the five-round distance in the fight, while dominating Whittaker (h/t Sportskeeda):

“Look, no, people aren’t going to agree with me – but the ultimate thing you can do in fight sports, I think, is not a knockout. It’s a whitewash. And so, what I would like to happen is just a five-round whitewash where there is no stoppage this time. But like, every round, there’s just accumulative, accumulative, accumulative damage. And it just leaves no doubt. It just leaves no doubt. There’s 25 minutes of mastery.”

Adesanya previously took to Twitter with a warning to Whittaker:

“Look in my eyes   Eat, sleep, train, repeat… It’s a plan that can’t be beat! This will be worse than the first time.”

Whittaker however, when speaking with ‘Morning Kombat’ was asked if Adesanya has improved since UFC 243, to which he responded:

“To keep up with me and my skill set, definitely not. I think my skill sets are much more diverse than his. I think I’m a better fighter. I honestly do. Otherwise, I would not be fighting him; if I didn’t have the confidence and belief that I can beat him. And yeah, I look to shake his head on the weekend.”

Who are you betting on to win at UFC 271 – ‘The Last Stylebender’ or ‘The Reaper’? Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!