Eventually, their paths would cross in the UFC's middleweight division when both were selected to be head coaches of the November 2018 filming of UFC's The Ultimate Fighter 28: Heavy Hitters season, ultimately leading to their title fight slated for UFC 234.
Whittaker enters Rod Laver Arena as a 1.40 favourite and is riding an impressive nine fight win streak.
He is looking to ‘make it a 10th with a victory.
The champ's approach speaks for itself and he is the most well-rounded middleweight in the world.
With 9 knockout wins, 5 submission wins, and 6 decision wins, The Reaper has no qualms of claiming a victory anywhere by any means.
Expect the orthodox fighter to make use of his high striking output clocking in 4.82 strikes landed per minute (a much higher figure over the well-known wrestler/boxer Gastelum).
Both champ and challenger are defensively sound on their feet, sharing similar rates of 61 percent and both share nearly identical striking accuracy rates (40 percent and 43 percent respectively).
Keys to victory for the 1.40 favourite are to maintain his range over the southpaw and to capitalise on his uncanny ability to counter when Gastelum over commits and is in range.
The 3.00 underdog is a Kings MMA prodigy and a 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu blackbelt.
Also a high volume striker, he absorbs less damage than the champ and is a grappling freak.
He claims one of the UFC's highest takedown average rates of 82 percent over his opponents, he is also in positive numbers when it comes to takedown accuracy and takedown defence.
Gastelum's improved boxing and range will be crucial if he committed to be crowned as the new middleweight champ.
He has been successful on foreign soil and like the champ has claimed victories equally via knockout, submission, and the distance.
The Verdict
Although this is the UFC's first PPV (pay per view) of the year, Whittaker is set to make this the biggest show on Australian soil yet.
Whittaker makes it his 10th straight victory and retains his middleweight crown in Melbourne.
Unibet Odds: Robert Whittaker 1.40 Kelvin Gastelum 3.00
Tip: Whittaker
Method of victory: Whittaker by TKO/KO or DQ (2.20)
To go the distance: No (1.53)
Anderson Silva v Israel Adensaya
In a co-main set to send a message to the middleweight champ, Melbourne has its stage set for one of the most stylistic and entertaining fights ever.
In a classic ‘old school’ versus ‘new school’ we see the return of long time former champ Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva (pictured above) versus the unstoppable young gun Israel ‘The Style Bender’ Adensaya.
Silva enters as one of the biggest underdogs on the card and has been one of the few to accept the challenge of the unbeaten New Zealander and his highlight reel Octagon appearances.
Keys to victory for ‘The Spider’ will be to make use of his range, eliminate any space from the Glory Kickboxing phenom and to capitalize on his tenure as a high level Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
As for ‘The Style Bender’ his keys to victory have been his high-level fight IQ, his ability to create openings and creativity in sequencing combinations.
Silva has been a long time hero of mine but Adensaya is a freakshow in this sport and on home soil he is determined to outclass his long time idol.
Anderson Silva has mastered the art of a one strike knockout out of thin air, the upset could really happen.
Considering Silva has done his homework on Adensaya this fight is closer on paper than we think.
The Style Bender had a great future ahead of him but I like Spider for the win at UFC 234.
Unibet Odds: Anderson Silva 4.75 Israel Adensaya 1.17
Tip: Silva
