In a recent interview, Robert Whittaker discussed his opinions on the potential of a trilogy fight going happening with Israel Adesanya.
On February 17, 2024, Whittaker is scheduled to compete against Paulo Costa at the UFC 298 event. He is coming off of a knockout loss in the second round against Dricus du Plessis, and he will be looking to bounce back into the win column by claiming victory over the Brazilian.
Over the course of his career in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the former middleweight champion has competed against Israel Adesanya on two separate occasions. On both times, the Australian fight was unsuccessful, with the first defeat coming in the form of a knockout fight. His performance was significantly improved the second time around, and he was able to take Adesanya to the scorecards. Unfortunately for ‘The Reaper,’ the judges decided that Adesanya should be picked as the winner.
Megan Anderson, a former fighter in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, recently had an interview with ‘Reaper’ in which she asked him if he would be interested in fighting Adesanya in 2024, despite the fact that the fight might not be for a title. Whittaker has stated that he is concentrating on beating Costa and that if he were to win the fight, it would mean that he would have access to a wide range of chances. It was him who said:
Israel Adesanya and I have absolutely no history of animosity toward one another. The competitiveness between them is healthy, yet there is no animosity between them. To tell you the truth, I’m only concerned with defeating Paulo Costa. The world is truly my oyster if I am successful in defeating Costa. In a sense, I am able to move in any direction that I want. First and foremost, I want to get back to my previous level of performance and defeat Costa, and then I’ll take a look at the situation.
Robert Whittaker admits to his mistake in the Dricus Du Plessis fight
Adesanya was considered to be the best fighter in the middleweight division, while Robert Whittaker was considered to be the better fighter. It was anticipated that a victory against Dricus du Plessis would bring him closer to fulfilling his obligation to fight Israel Adesanya in the trilogy competition. On the other hand, Du Plessis disrupted such intentions by defeating “The Reaper” with a knockout in the second round.
On the other hand, Whittaker’s defeat has been successful in the long run, since Dricus du Plessis just defeated Sean Strickland and became the new champion of the UFC middleweight division at UFC 297.
During his most recent appearance on The MMA Hour, Whittaker admitted that he had first underestimated Du Plessis, saying the following:
“You need to be prepared for that kind of fight, not only do you need to be prepared for that mentality, but you also need to be prepared for that mindset when you are fighting those kinds of fighters. Due to the fact that it is a great force, it is possible that I did not give that the seriousness that it earned. There is no doubt in my mind that I will not repeat that error.
