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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya (The Last Style Bender) has been hit with a massive verbal punch by Australia’s Robert Whittaker, as the challenger is blowing hot heading into this Saturday’s title fight.
The stage is set for both fighters to slug things out in Houston, Texas, USA, but Whittaker set mind games to a higher level when he declared that he is not in any way scared of taking on Adesanya a second time.
This is despite the fact that their first encounter at UFC 243, three years ago in Melbourne, Australia gave Adesanya bragging rights, which he is now flaunting ahead of their rematch in the main event of UFC 271 at Toyota Center.
Megasportsarena.com reports that Adesanya’s jab at his rival and former champion is about how that first fight went, as he knocked Whittaker down late in the first round, then finished him in the second.
His belief is that if the first round was a bit longer, there never would have been a second round, but Whittaker insists it will be a different story this Saturday.
One of the things that Adesanya is best at, beyond fighting, is getting into an opponent’s head, which Whittaker admits the champ did at UFC 243, but he insists he is not afraid of boastful talk from the Nigerian.
Adesanya has continued to lob volleys at Whittaker, who continues staying defiant and insists his loss the last time out will have no impact.
They annoyed him but it was the culmination of so many factors that left him in a suboptimal mental state and his determined to even the score with Adesanya and regain the title.
That’s the target this weekend for Whittaker, who has long been one of the best fighters in the world and is ranked No. 7 in the Yahoo Sports pound-for-pound ratings.
He’s won 12 of his last 13, with the only loss to Adesanya, and in that time has defeated Yoel Romero twice, Kelvin Gastelum, Jared Cannonier, Darren Till, Derek Brunson and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, among others.
He’s got to the top of the heap with an incredible work ethic. He’s pushed so hard to get better every day that he realized that he was neglecting his family. He had to back off the hard work just a little to strike a better work-life balance.
So he’s a guy who pretty much has everything going for him, and a win over Adesanya would vault him near the top of the pound-for-pound ratings.
He, however, admits that he wasn’t as strong mentally against Adesanya as he should have been, and insists that he’s corrected that problem heading into the rematch Saturday.
Whittaker told Yahoo Sports: “I’ve been in this game a long time and with that comes change and evolution.
“Sometimes, the process isn’t clean and I’m only human at the end of the day. That was the catalyst I needed to happen for me to make some changes to get myself better.
“I’m glad it happened because I certainly have come out better. Mate, I’m in a completely different headspace now than I was then.”
However, all odds are staked so much in favour of the Nigerian fighter, to the extent that Australia-based fight wear brand manufacturer, Engage has launched a new campaign starring Adesanya and UFC featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski.
Accompanying the champions are four of his teammates, Brad Riddell, Kai Kara-France, Genah Fabian and Carlos Ulberg, who come together to highlight “We Are All Fighters.”
The inspirational video explores what it means to be a fighter in the modern world, highlighting daily sacrifices required to achieve goals while promoting the importance of mental and physical well-being.
Touching on the campaign, Engage founder, Ash Belcastro clarified: “We’re not a fight wear brand – we’re a brand for fighters.
“That’s what Engage is all about – and the new campaign reflects that. We’re for everyone who decides to train, whatever their background.
“Whoever they are, whatever their reasons. If they’re willing to step up, then they’re a fighter and we’re here to support them.”
Adesanya, who is gearing up for his fourth title defense, added: “We’re all on our own journey and have our own challenges.
“We’re all fighting to be the best we can and it’s important to face life head-on. Engage is a mindset.
“It’s about showing up every day and bringing the right energy to be better than you were yesterday.”
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