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ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – SEPTEMBER 27: Israel Adesanya of Nigerian is interviewed after defeating Paulo Costa of Brazil in their middleweight championship bout during UFC 253 inside Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island on September 27, 2020 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC)
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ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – SEPTEMBER 27: Israel Adesanya of Nigerian is interviewed after defeating Paulo Costa of Brazil in their middleweight championship bout during UFC 253 inside Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island on September 27, 2020 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC)
Israel Adesanya has been near perfect in his time at middleweight so far. ‘The Last Stylebender’ has established himself as one of the very best not only at 185 pounds but also in the entire UFC roster. Most recently, he stopped Paulo Costa in the second round in jaw-dropping fashion.
However, as a champion, there are always new fights lying ahead, which seem tougher than the previous one. It was recently reported that Adesanya would fight Jan Blachowicz at light heavyweight. This was contrary to what most fans and pundits believed as Robert Whittaker was set to be his next challenge.
Read: “I’ll slap him across his face”- Israel Adesanya ready to fight Jon Jones at heavyweight
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Israel Adesanya shares his thoughts on Robert Whittaker’s last fight
In a recent interview, a reporter asked Adesanya what he made of Robert Whittaker’s last fight and if it impressed him enough to want to fight him again. ‘The Last Stylebender’ replied, “I mean it is subjective. To be honest, no….. I can be honest in the fact that I wasn’t too impressed with his performance. He did well, don’t get me wrong. But I was not impressed to the point that ohh f**k let me get this guy again.”He continued, “If he went in there and literally f***ed up Cannonier in a way that was mind-blowing, and finished him, it might have got me looking at him differently…. But it did not really light that spark, I just feel like it would be the same thing again…. He has other things on the horizon so let him do his thing and I’ll do mine.”
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Following his win at UFC 253, Adesanya had stated that he would like to face Cannonier next. This was contingent on ‘The Killa Gorilla’ securing a dominant win over ‘The Reaper’. This did not happen as Cannonier suffered an injury in the opening exchanges of the fight at UFC 254.
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ATLANTA, GA – APRIL 13: Israel Adesanya reacts after defeating Kelvin Gastelum by unanimous decision in their interim middleweight championship bout during the UFC 236 event at State Farm Arena on April 13, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
However, after his win, Whittaker did not display any urgency in securing a rematch with ‘Izzy’. He revealed that he was not too focused on the title shot as it was inevitable. This made way for the UFC to match up Israel Adesanya against Jan Blachowicz at 205 pounds.
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Read: Robert Whittaker says title shot against Israel Adesanya ‘Inevitable’
Do you agree with Israel Adesanya’s comments about Robert Whittaker’s recent performance? Let us know in the comments below.
