Robert Whittaker ready to “ruin a lot of other people’s days” to get a third fight with Israel Adesanya

By Harry Kettle - April 18, 2023

UFC fighter Robert Whittaker is ready to run through the middleweight division in order to get another fight with Israel Adesanya.

Robert Whittaker

Earlier this month, Israel Adesanya regained his UFC middleweight championship by knocking out Alex Pereira. In doing so, he avenged the defeat the suffered at the hands of the Brazilian back at UFC 281.

One man who was watching their collision closely is Robert Whittaker. The Australian sensation, who is a former champion himself, has fought and lost to Adesanya on two separate occasions. With that being said, their second meeting was much, much closer than their first.

As of this writing, nobody else has been able to beat Bobby Knuckles at 185 pounds. As such, it only makes sense that he wants another crack at the belt – and he’s willing to put in the work to get it.

“I understand the position that I’m in. I understand that I fought him twice and I want that third fight. And if I have to ruin a lot of other people’s days to get it then I’ll do that.”

In the same interview, Whittaker reiterated how UFC 287 made him realise just how badly he wants to face Adesanya again.

“I really want to fight ‘Izzy’ again. I really want to fight him specifically,” Whittaker said. “I wanna beat him for the title. I didn’t realize how much I wanted to beat him in particular until it could have gone another way. Until there was a possibility I could have been fighting Pereira for the belt. Which is funny because I know it’s like, ‘Do you want to fight him or fight for the title?’ I always said it doesn’t matter, I’ll fight anyone I just want to fight for the belt.

Whittaker shoots for the stars

“In actuality, watching that fight and what could have been, I realized no, I want to fight Israel,” he concluded. “I’m going to beat ‘Izzy’ the next time we come across. It’s funny how important that stood out to me.”

Quotes via MMA Mania

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Topics:

Israel Adesanya Robert Whittaker UFC