Robert Whittaker Reveals Why He Hopes To Fight Israel Adesanya
Robert Whittaker explains why he hopes to make his next title defense against rising title contender Israel Adesanya.
Whittaker was originally slated to defend his UFC middleweight title against Kelvin Gastelum at the UFC 234 pay-per-view. However, he had to pull out of the fight at the last minute due to a hernia and collapsed bowel.
With the UFC champion set to be out of action until this summer, the UFC decided it was best to have Gastelum and Adesanya battle it for the interim middleweight title at UFC 236.
Whittaker has made it known that he looks forward to fighting the winner of this bout. He doesn’t think Adesanya is what he’s hyped up to be, specifically his striking game.
“I’m looking to fight the winner of that,” Whittaker said on his Grange TV podcast (H/T to MMAFighting). “I guess, in terms of timelines and dates, it will be a month – two or three months after that. Three months maximum, one month minimum. That’s the kind of timeline I’m looking for.”
“I think that Adesanya isn’t as good as he thinks he is,” Whittaker said. “I think he’s very good – very, very good – and I have a lot of respect for his skillset, 100 percent. He’s a dangerous guy. But I don’t think the pedestal that he’s on is as high as everyone else thinks it is, as he thinks it is. I think his fight with Anderson Silva was the first time his stand-up capabilities were put to the test with someone with similar stand-up capabilities. . .
“I don’t think Adesanya’s striking is as good as he believes. it is. It’s very good. I’m not saying his striking is bad, it’s very, very good – but I just don’t think it’s as good as he thinks it is. The times Adesanya’s looked very good is against people that don’t have the greatest striking.”
The UFC 236 pay-per-view event is set to take place on Saturday, April 13, 2019 at a venue and location TBA. The main card will air on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET. The preliminary card will air on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET and the the UFC’s streaming service, Fight Pass.
