Israel Adesanya recently predicted how the UFC 311 main event between Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan would play out. Adesanya took a word out of the WWE’s book to express his opinion on the Makhachev vs. Tsarukyan encounter.
The UFC 311 headliner will mark Makhachev’s fourth title defense after winning against Dustin Poirier at UFC 302. The Dagestani defeated Alexander Volkanovski two times for his first two title defenses.
Both of Makhachev’s previous title defense rivals had a strike-heavy fighting style. However, he is expected to face a different kind of challenge at UFC 311 because of Tsarukyan’s pedigree in wrestling. Makhachev’s rival has showcased his mastery in wrestling multiple times, which include his escape from Charles Oliveira’s tight guillotine choke in their UFC 300 bout.
Adesanya caught up with his former rival Robert Whittaker for the latest video on his YouTube channel, FREESTYLEBENDER, where the two broke down the fights scheduled for UFC 311.
While talking about the main event of the night, Israel Adesanya highlighted how Makhachev’s striking had improved significantly. ‘The Last Stylebender’ appreciated Tsarukyan’s “hands” and “kicks”, but he also opined that both fighters would resort to a lot of wrestling in the fight:
“His striking is looking way more comfortable lately, way more polished. Arman as well… He’s got nice kicks, good hands, very explosive. But yeah, it’s gonna be a wrestling fight. It’s gonna be WrestleMania.”
Check out Israel Adesanya’s comments below (23:30):