"I will get that done" - Dana White confident of Israel Adesanya - Robert Whittaker rematch in January 2022 despite visa issues
Dana White has revealed that the promotion is targeting a rematch between Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker for UFC 270.
White recently sat down for an exclusive interview with The Daily Telegraph. In a near-24-minute interview, White talked about various topics, including YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul and the upcoming featherweight title fight between Alex Volkanovski and Brian Ortega.
At one point in the interview, the UFC president talked about the much anticipated rematch between Adesanya and Whittaker. White started by saying that it's a shame the fight will not take place in one of the fighters' home countries due to COVID-19 restrictions and visa issues in New Zealand.
But he later added that despite all the hurdles, he's confident of getting the fight done in January next year.
"Listen, I don't wanna be all cocky and s**t but, you know, we will do everything in our power to get that stuff worked out... That's what we are working on. We're working on January."
Fighters from New Zealand have been facing issues with getting their visa approved to fight overseas.
UFC lightweight contender and Israel Adesanya's teammate Dan Hooker recently took to Twitter in a bid to resolve an issue. He asked the U.S. Embassy in New Zealand to help him out with his visa struggles.
@USAmbNZ Hi Kevin, apologies for messaging on here but it's a last resort.
My visa is with the US embassy here in NZ as I fight next week in Las Vegas on #UFC266
Update today is it won't be approved until next week due to lock down which will cancel my fight. Please help. 🙏
'The Hangman' is currently scheduled to take on Nasrat Haqparast at UFC 266. Failure to procure a visa will put his fight with Haqparast in jeopardy.
Israel Adesanya defeated Robert Whittaker at UFC 243
The first encounter between Robert Whittaker and Israel Adesanya took place at UFC 243 at the Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Australia.
'The Last Stylebender' made easy work of 'The Reaper'. He finished the New Zealand-born Australian in the second round to become the new middleweight king.
After his dominant unanimous decision win over Marvin Vettori at UFC 263, Adesanya called out Whittaker for a rematch. Despite the quick end to their first meeting, many have suggested that Whittaker is the biggest threat to Adesanya's throne.