Robert Whittaker feels "underlying sense of mutual respect" leading up to rematch against Israel Adesanya - "The fight isn't personal"
![Israel Adesanya (left) and Robert Whittaker (right) [Image credits: @robertwhittakermma and @stylebender on Instagram]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2022/02/d43dd-16437916830602-1920.jpg?w=500)
Robert Whittaker is of the opinion that there is no personal rivalry between him and middleweight king Israel Adesanya leading up to their rematch at UFC 271.
Whittaker recently sat down with Submission Radio to talk about his upcoming title fight against 'The Last Stylebender' at UFC 271. 'The Reaper' shared his belief that although the two are not exactly friends, there is a sense of mutual respect between the two middleweights heading into their bout on February 12.
"Well, this one's a completely different tone. I feel there's an underlying sense of mutual respect, you know what I mean? We're both the two best in the game. He's [Israel Adesanya] the champ and I'm number one and we've ran through everybody else and I think there's a certain level of mutual respect that comes from that. I think the fact that the New Zealand-Australia rivalry isn't so much getting thrown in everybody's faces or thinking like, this is Australia-New Zealand taking over the world sort of thing," said Robert Whittaker.
Whittaker went on to admit that Adesanya's demeanor and the magnitude of their first fight affected his performance at UFC 243. However, after spending time reflecting on his loss and working his way back into title contention, 'The Reaper' is set to run it back with the Nigerian.
Catch the full Robert Whittaker interview with Submission Radio below:
In their first encounter, Whittaker and Adesanya fought in front of more than 55,000 fans at the Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Australia. 'The Last Stylebender' outclassed the Australian and knocked him out in the second round to win middleweight gold.
Israel Adesanya believes following Jan Blachowicz's strategy will not work for Robert Whittaker
‘He’s going to remember me for the rest of his life’: Jan Blachowicz says Israel Adesanya will never forget UFC 259 title tussle | themaclife.com/sports/mma/hes… https://t.co/sYvLzkmc5A
Israel Adesanya suffered the first loss of his MMA career at the hands of Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259.
Robert Whittaker believes that the Polish powerhouse has provided a blueprint on how to defeat the Nigerian and he plans to work along those lines.
However Adesanya recently criticized 'The Reaper' during an interview with FOX Sports Australia. 'The Last Stylebender' said that if the past was any indication, Whittaker's plan might not work out too well.
"The first time we fought he [Whittaker] said Kelvin has laid out the blueprint to the path of beating me and look how that helped him. So this time Jan, he thinks, has the blueprint on beating me. But like I said, he should write his own homework. Stop trying to copy everyone else's homework." said Israel Adesanya.
Catch Adesanya's interview with Fox Sports Australia below: