Israel Adesanya Set on High Alert as Robert Whittaker Demands “Hard Fight” & Targets Backup Fighter Role for UFC 305

UFC Fight Night, UFC’s first stint in Saudi Arabia is over, and Robert Whittaker reminded the world why he is still one of the best. The former champion took on Ikram Aliskerov on short notice, which led several experts to discern that the Dagestani fighter might just cause an upset for ‘The Reaper.’ Yet, in the end, his skills were too much to handle for the new UFC Fighter, and Whittaker had the last laugh.

Whittaker has once again proved that he is far from finished and deserves a title shot soon. After his emphatic victory, the former champion now has his eyes set on UFC 305 next. During his post-fight interview, he shared his opinion on the whole.

Robert Whittaker has his eyes set on Perth after his UFC Fight Night win

32-year-old Robert Whittaker looked in sublime form when he entered the Octagon in Saudi Arabia. His last two performances have now pushed him right into title contention. His next target is Perth, as UFC 305 is featuring Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya for the title. Whittaker has shown his interest in being a backup fighter for the event. During his post-fight interview, Whittaker said, “Yeah, like Perth is round the corner for me. Like it would be silly for me not to be a backup fighter.”

The former champion has always been vocal about his skills and feels he is the best in the division. Whittaker further made it clear that he is in fine fighting form and is fit to go to Perth next. He said, “In that regards especially with the win that I had tonight and the shape that I’m in. So it just makes it logical sense for me. I’d like to fight Dricus cuz I feel I let myself down there, you know. I’d like to run that back Izzy’s still on the list as well. So either and to be honest, that’s a hard fight.”

It will now be interesting to see whether he turns up at the event in his hometown. The much-awaited clash between Adesanya and Du Plessis has already gathered a lot of attention from the fans. Most experts have started making their predictions and even their potential rival, Robert Whittaker, has come up with his own.

‘The Reaper’ picks his favorite for the upcoming UFC 305 clash

Israel Adesanya and Dricus Du Plessis have been waiting to fight each other for quite some time now. The pair first clashed against each other after Izzy questioned Du Plessis about his African Heritage. Since then, the pair has been involved in a lot of social media brawls but will eventually face each other at UFC 305. Just like most MMA fans, Whittaker is also excited about the clash and has also picked his favorite.

‘The Reaper’ feels Adesanya might just face a few problems because of the fighting style of ‘Stillknocks’. He said, “Honestly I think Dricus fighting Sean displayed a level of pressure that he can put, which is you know [very effective]. To stop a pressure fighter like Sean, I thought that was pretty impressive.” 

Whittaker then made it clear as to how Adesanya struggled in his last fight at UFC 293. According to the former champ, if ‘The Last Stylebender’ has made no change in his style, he might struggle at UFC 305 as well. He further made it clear and said, “So you’d have to, you know, make the connections that that’s what Dricus is going to do to Adesanya. And you know, unless Adesanya has done something to counter that since the last time he crossed Sean’s path, it might be a long night [for Adesanya].”

Adesanya has been out of action for quite some time now but seems to be ready for the upcoming challenge. However, it will be interesting to see whether t Robert Whittaker turns up as a backup fighter at UFC 305, or not. Let us know in the comments below.