Robert Whittaker is determined to get another crack at middleweight champion Israel Adesanya after returning to winning ways against Darren Till at UFC Fight Island 3. Whittaker rebounded from losing his title to ‘Stylebender’ in a highly competitive fight with Englishman Till on July 25. ‘The Reaper’ edged it out on the scorecards after five rounds of nip and tuck action.
‘The Reaper’ has been linked to fights against Jared Cannonier and Jack Hermansson next. He tells LowKickMMA he’ll happily fight either man provided they are ready to go in November or December.
“I don’t care,” Whittaker said. “It doesn’t matter. The UFC are just going to put somebody in front of me and then I’ll punch with them. More importantly for me is just the date. I want to fight again before the end of the year. Hopefully, November. November-December that would be good. Whatever the UFC want we can talk about it’s all good. As long as it’s in November or December it’s all good.”
For Whittaker it’s all about working his way back in to title contention so he can get another shot at Adesanya. The 29-year-old doesn’t feel like the real him showed up at UFC 243 and he’d love to run it back to prove what he is really about.
“I think the biggest thing when it comes to the rematch with Izzy, is that I’ll be in a better head space,” Whittaker said. “I don’t think I was myself that fight. I certainly think I can fight better. So, we will have to wait and see.
Before any of that can happen Adesanya must defend his belt against Paulo Costa at UFC 253. Whittaker believes the middleweight champion has what it takes to defend his title but must be wary of the Brazilian power puncher who is trying to take his UFC gold, he said.
“I think Adesanya has the skills to win, I certainly do but Costa is a bit of an X factor. He’s got a lot of cardio, he’s got chin, he’s got power. I do look forward to seeing how he comes in to this one.
“I want to run it back with Adesanya that would be good one day. Wherever, whenever sort of thing. But I don’t care. I hope they knock each other out and I fight one of them.”
Do you think Robert Whittaker would have more success in a rematch against Israel Adesanya?