I was landing on him every time we exchanged - Robert Whittaker recalls his fights with Israel Adesanya
Robert Whittaker believes he was able to outstrike Israel Adesanya during their UFC 271 title rematch. On a recent episode of The MMA Hour, 'The Reaper' weighed in on his failed title bid against Adesanya.
According to Whittaker, Adesanya's first victory over him made 'The Last Stylebender' seem better than he was. 'The Reaper' revealed that he had overestimated the Nigerian-born Kiwi's skillset ahead of their rematch at UFC 271.
However, things turned out differently for Whittaker during the rematch. The 31-year old claimed that he landed shots on Adesanya in every exchange while avoiding taking serious damage of his own. Whittaker told Ariel Helwani:
"In the years that I fought him and the way that he beat me in the first fight; it just made him seem so much bigger than he was. So much better than it was. Like in my own head that is.... In my own head, he seemed unhitable. Like I couldn't get in, I couldn't hit him, his reach was crazy. But in reality it was nothing like that. I was landing my hands on him every time we exchanged. I wasn't getting touched in the trades too much. Ya, the reality was very different, you know, the mind's a funny thing."
Watch Robert Whittaker's appearance on The MMA Hour below:
Israel Adesanya has little doubt regarding his victory over Robert Whittaker
Israel Adesanya scored a unanimous decision win over Robert Whittaker in the main-event at UFC 271, making it his fourth successful title defense at middleweight.
While Whittaker landed four takedowns, he wasn't able to control Adesanya on the ground. Meanwhile, 'The Last Stylebender' had a clear edge in the striking, landing a total of 79 significant strikes against Whittaker's 59.
Robert Whittaker: "I'm gutted. I thought I did enough. I thought I took that." #UFC271
Whittaker later stated that he did "enough" to win the bout. However, Adesanya has no doubts regarding his victory.
According to the middleweight champion, one cannot do "enough" in a title fight and has to win emphatically. The 32-year old told ESPN:
"He did not win that fight, and he knows it. He needs to go have a shower as well and reflect and realize that's not true. ... You don't do 'enough' to win the title. You take the belt. That's how this works."