Robert Whittaker Says Tt’s Inevitable For Another Fight Against Israel Adesanya

It's been two weeks since Whitaker's second championship bout with Israel Adesanya at UFC 271, where he fell short of the scorecard against Israel Adesanya. This was Whitaker's second loss to Adasanya, although unlike their first meeting, which ended with Whitaker being knocked out in the second round, the two stars went the distance in a very close contest.

In an interview with Submission Radio, Whitaker – number 2 at 185 pounds in MMA Fighting's global rankings – summarized why he is not overly dissatisfied by his loss to Adesanya and why he is still convinced he has the power to defeat him.



“It’s been funny because there’s that underlying current of disappointment that I didn’t get the nod, that I didn’t walk away with the W, as I believe I should have,” Whittaker said (transcription via Denis Shkuratov). “But in saying that, on the back of it though, I’m very… like, I have that satisfied feeling, cause I went in there and I took it to him and I believe I made a great account of myself. And yeah, I really, really took it to him. Really, really took it to him. To the point where–I don’t know, I’m satisfied with my performance. I want more from it, I think every fighter does. I don’t think a fighter goes into a fight and be like, ‘Well, that’s the best you’ll ever see of me.’ But it’s one of those things, coming off that first fight with him, changing things up, I improved, I evolved, and I went in there and I gave it to him.”

“I lost the decision,” Whittaker continued. “But I’m the best middleweight in the world, and I know this. It screams in my soul. And knowing that, taking that from the fight, especially after the first fight because of the way the first fight went down, it wasn’t a close fight. It was a bad performance on my end and a great performance on his. So I took back a lot of the things that were lost in a fight like that. Because people don’t say, did you lose confidence? You don’t lose confidence, it’s just not quite the same. It’s always there lingering. I guarantee you I am 200 times better from this last fight than I was before it.”

Whittaker lost the bout via unanimous decision. Whittaker stuck to a strategy of precise boxing and timely wrestling, which was enough to earn him two rounds on two of the judges’ scorecards.



Should he get past Adesanya, Whittaker expects that to validate him as one of the best fighters of all time.

“It’s inevitable for another fight down the line,” Whittaker said. “There’s definitely going to be another fight down the line.”

“I’m the best middleweight in the world,” he later added. “Trust me. That’s my biggest takeaway. I have no ceiling right now, and I’m enjoying the process. And every fight you see a new developed and evolved version of myself. And honestly, there’s no ceiling. I’m gonna be the best ever, and it’s just a matter of time.”

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