Reigning UFC middleweight titleholder Israel Adesanya is scheduled to defend his 185-pound strap against former division champion Robert Whittaker at the promotion’s upcoming UFC 271 pay-per-view (PPV) event on Feb. 12 from inside Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
Since capturing a second-round finish over Whittaker at UFC 243, Adesanya (21-1) has registered three successful title defenses, wrapped around a loss to Jan Blachowicz in his unsuccessful bid to join the “champ champ” club earlier this year.
Which is why “The Last Stylebender” has a point to prove at UFC 271.
“This is the best I’ve ever come into a camp in shape, and I’m not going out of shape I promise you that,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel (transcribed by Farah Hannoun). “I have a point to prove to myself, but just also to like, you know, those people, I just want to shut them the fuck up. I mean the motivation for me is just that he’s not making excuses like (Marvin) Vettori or (Paulo) Costa.”
Whittaker (23-5) punched his ticket to another middleweight title fight by turning away veteran bruiser Kelvin Gastelum at UFC Vegas 24 last April in Las Vegas, his third straight victory since coughing up the crown to “The Last Stylebender.”
And “The Reaper” has no excuses, no injuries, and plenty of notice.
“He’s accepted his loss. He finally admitted that I was in his head, and he was emotional, and I was like, ‘Yeah, you finally admitted what I was saying this whole fucking time,’ so that makes me take him seriously,” Adesanya continued. “He’s accepted that, so that makes me take him seriously that okay, he’s got a point to prove, as well, and he’s been training. He’s motivated. That gets me up in the morning to shut him up again worse than the first time. That’s what gets me motivated.”
To see who else is fighting at UFC 271 click here.