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Robert Whittaker is going hard on his campaign for a rematch against Israel Adesanya.
In a matter of two weeks, Robert Whittaker went from not being “stoked” to fight Israel Adesanya in a rematch to campaigning hard for a part two. Now, “The Reaper” says he is willing to move up to light heavyweight just to make a fight happen.
“If (Adesanya) wins (against Jan Blachowicz), I’ll go up there and fight him. I don’t care,” Whittaker told Submission Radio in a recent interview.
“I’ll fight Izzy and Jan at the same time, after March. Like, I don’t care, I don’t care,” he added. “I just want to enjoy why I fight, which is the biggest shift I’ve had in my head space and everything this year.”
Whittaker, who walks around at 215 pounds, admits a rematch at light heavyweight won’t be the same. He is, however, more than willing to make the necessary adjustments.
“It couldn’t be the same fight. It’s hard to say, cause I don’t know how I’m going to move with the heavier weight set,” said the former middleweight champion. “‘Cause, generally, I like training lighter, I like fighting lighter. I move faster, my cardio’s better.
“It’s very hard to say, it’s very hard to say. I’ll have to make some adjustments to my body in order to try and get that speed going and that cardio and movement at a heavier weight.”
Whittaker recognizes he’s on the B-Side in terms of an Adesanya rematch. But as far as he’s concerned, weight classes don’t matter at this point.
“I guess the ball is in his court. He’s the champ, he beat me last time. So, I’m hustling for a rematch like a salty kid,” he said. “But yeah, I don’t mind. It is what it is. Shouldn’t have lost the first time. But I’m excited for… I’m not excited, cause fighting’s never really fun, it’s kind of stressful, but I look forward to that rematch, ‘cause as a fighter, as an athlete, I want to try and get that one back.
“You know, I have that thing, that chip here that wants to run that back. But he’s looking really good, man, he’s looking really, really good. I think that will be a ridiculously hard fight. Yeah, let’s see.
“I’ll fight Izzy one way or another. Middleweight, light heavyweight, whatever.”
While it was announced by UFC president Dana White, the Blachowicz-Adesanya title fight at 205 pounds has yet to be made official.