"That was cap" - Israel Adesanya says he wasn't happy with UFC 271 announcement because contract wasn't signed

Israel Adesanya at the UFC 259 Press Conference

Israel Adesanya has revealed he wasn't too delighted with the UFC for officially announcing his rematch against Robert Whittaker at UFC 271, even before the contracts for the bout were signed.

In a recent interview with Brett Okamoto of ESPN MMA, 'The Last Stylebender' said:

"Oh, I commented on the UFC 's post about it with a cap emoji. For the young ones, you know what that means, cap, no cap. You know, nene? I don't know. Yeah, for me it wasn't about the fight, it was about the announcement for the fight...by that time we hadn't signed the fight. I hadn't signed for the fight. So, that was cap! That's what I meant like, it wasn't signed yet. I was not happy with the announcement...but we came to an agreement, I'm happy with the deal we came to so, yeah."

Watch the interview below:

The UFC had announced a rematch between reigning UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker will take place at UFC 271. However, Adesanya responded to a tweet from the UFC’s official Twitter account with a cap emoji, which is slang to suggest that someone is lying.

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇 𝐈𝐒 𝐎𝐍.

🇳🇬 @Stylebender vs 🇦🇺 @RobWhittakerMMA

[ #UFC271 | Feb 12 🔗ufc.com/UFC-271-Presale | @ToyotaCenter ] https://t.co/dpW4jUTVWQ

@ufc @robwhittakermma @ToyotaCenter 🧢

Dana White had no idea what Israel Adesanya meant by 'cap' emoji

During the UFC 269 post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White was asked about Israel Adesanya’s tweet in response to the UFC 271 announcement.

White responded by emphasizing that the Adesanya-Whittaker rematch was indeed a done deal and he had no idea what Adesanya meant by his cap tweet. He also noted that if ‘The Last Stylebender’ doesn’t want that fight, they’ll find him another one.

He said:

"I'm confused. Listen, if you don't wanna fight Whittaker, okay. Then I guess we'll find another fight. Who gives a sh**? I definitely don't give a sh**. You don't want the Whittaker fight to be on, then okay. We'll find something else. Why would we lie? When have we ever fu***** lied? This fight's coming up. Have we ever lied about it? 20 fu*****, have we ever lied about a fight?"

Watch Dana White's interview below:

Robert Whittaker will look to exact his revenge at UFC 271 after he was knocked out by 'The Last Stylebender' at UFC 243 in their first meeting. The two top middleweights will engage in a highly anticipated rematch on February 12 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.