Israel Adesanya explains why he 'humbled' Robert Whittaker in their first fight
Israel Adesanya has claimed he wanted to show that longtime rival Robert Whittaker was full of "s**t" in their first fight. In an edition of the Brilliant Idiots podcast, Adesanya suggested that he usually isn’t angry in his fights.
‘The Last Stylebender’ added that he wasn’t angry in his most recent fight – a closely-contested unanimous decision win in a rematch against Whittaker at UFC 271. Adesanya then pointed to his videographer Jeff Sainlar and stated:
“He [Sainlar] kind of brought it to my attention that whenever I have static with someone or beef with someone, I really take them out, I really go at them in a different way. And this guy I fought, this is a rematch. First time I fought him, he just reminded me of just these f**king c**ts I used to deal with back in the day.”
Naija stand up! HE'S DONE IT!
@Stylebender finishes Whittaker in the 2nd round! Wow! #UFC243 https://t.co/IS1f8lL8Lt
Adesanya recalled their first fight at UFC 243 in 2019. This took place in Whittaker’s native Australia, where the fans supported everything 'The Reaper' said. 'The Last Stylebender' beat Whittaker via second-round KO at UFC 243. Adesanya then brought up why he humbled his rival:
“It just felt like he was a jock and he had these cool kids around him and just talking sh**. And I was like, ‘F**king watch this.’ I was just like, ‘I’m gonna show you guys he’s full of sh**.’ And I humbled him. I let him know he was full of sh**.”
Adesanya opined that Whittaker behaved “correct” with him ahead of their rematch. He noted that during the UFC 271 pre-fight press conference, Whittaker admitted that ‘The Last Stylebender’ had bragging rights as he’d previously beaten him. Adesanya highlighted that he dropped Whittaker in round one of their rematch, but he didn’t finish him as he didn’t have the same animosity as their first fight.
Watch Israel Adesanya’s appearance on the Brilliant Idiots podcast in the video below:
Robert Whittaker believes he beat Israel Adesanya at UFC 271
Intriguingly, Israel Adesanya also warned that anger from emotion clouds judgment. He added that many people have misplaced and misused anger, which hurts them more than their rivals.
Having gone 2-0 against Robert Whittaker, the UFC middleweight champion has hinted at defending his belt against Jared Cannonier in June. Meanwhile, Whittaker continues to lobby for a third fight against Adesanya.
During the UFC 271 post-fight press conference, ‘The Reaper’ claimed he should’ve been awarded the decision win. Whittaker said:
"I thought I beat him. I thought I did enough, I got inside his reach, I beat him to every punch, beat him every time. He didn't land anything that really hurt me but that one shot in the first [round]."
Watch Robert Whittaker speak after UFC 271 below: