“It won’t be a war. Not with me and him. It’s going to be short and sweet, trust me. I guarantee you [it will be one-sided.]”
Robert Whittaker is not intimidated by Israel Adesanya in the slightest.
‘The Last Stylebender’ has been praised for his career-defining performance at UFC 236, where he beat Kelvin Gastelum in a gripping Fight of the Year candidate to win the interim middleweight title in the co-main event.
Whittaker, however, wasn’t so impressed with the former kickboxing world champion. ‘The Reaper’ is adamant that Adesanya can’t take a punch and promised a one-sided, quick and easy fight against the newly-crowned interim champ in their upcoming title unification bout.
“It was a great fight. He showed a lot of heart, and technically he was amazing. But he got hit, and he got hurt. And if Gastelum can hit and hurt him, I can hit and hurt him,” Whittaker said (h/t Abhinav Kini of The Body Lock).
“Definitely. I’m not saying that Adesanya is an easy fight for me, I just think stylistically he matches up better with my own style. Stylistically, I always wanted to fight Adesanya. Gastelum… He’s a keg. When I was watching him fight Adesanya, that’s the fight I was expecting when I was going to fight Gastelum. That’s the fight I had prepped for 12 weeks and that’s the fight I had in mind when I was almost going to fight him in Melbourne. I’m very happy that Adesanya had that fight.”
“It won’t be a war. Not with me and him. It’s going to be short and sweet, trust me. I guarantee you [it will be one-sided.]”
Whittaker last fought at UFC 225, where he edged out a split decision over top contender Yoel Romero in the main event. The New Zealand-born fighter was expected to defend his title against Gastelum earlier this year but was forced to withdraw from the bout after suffering a collapsed bowel and abdominal hernia.
Whittaker vs. Adesanya hasn’t been confirmed, but it’s expected that the title unification bout will take place later this year, possibly in the summer. Expect an official announcement from the UFC in the coming weeks.