Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker stared down for the first time last week since their middleweight title unification fight at UFC 243 was made official.
The two have been going back-and-forth on social media but finally got a chance to look into each other’s eyes and gauge one another’s mindsets. While certain fighters look to see if their opponents have any doubts or fears, Adesanya felt that Whittaker simply reminded him of a meth head.
However, “The Last Stylebender” acknowledged that Whittaker was tough and that he didn’t need to get under his skin either:
“At the staredown, he just reminded me of like a meth head,” Adesanya told MMA Junkie. “When you look into someone’s eyes and you’re just like, yeah, and I’m looking at him like OK, cool. He’s a guy, he’s been here, he’s tough, he’s a vet in this game, so I don’t have to try and get under his skin.
“He’s not under my skin, and he says he doesn’t think about me, and I don’t want him to. I don’t expect him to. My coaches think about him a lot, though, and we’re going to devise a beautiful strategy to take him off.”
While their UFC 243 headliner was made official, there is still no word on where it will take place — Australia or the United States. However, speaking earlier this week, Adesanya revealed it would “definitely” be taking place in Australia.
“Definitely. It’s not in America,” Adesanya said. “It’s a silly notion if they even decide to have it in America because duh, do you hate money? Yeah, it’s going to be in Australia, definitely.“
Who do you think takes the fight between Adesanya and Whittaker?
The post Israel Adesanya: Robert Whittaker Reminded Me Of A ‘Meth Head’ During Staredown appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.