When is Israel Adesanya expected to fight next after his UFC 263 win over Marvin Vettori?
UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is expected to defend his middleweight title against former champion Robert Whittaker towards the end of this year.
Adesanya last fought Marvin Vettori at UFC 263 last month on June 12. The fight, which was a rematch between the pair, lasted for the entirety of five rounds, with Israel Adesanya winning via a comfortable unanimous decision.
Whittaker was originally scheduled to challenge Israel Adesanya for the title instead of Vettori. However, the Australian fighter was not ready to fight so early after his main event victory over Kelvin Gastelum in April.
Israel Adesanya insisted on fighting in June, and thus, Vettori was brought in to attempt to dethrone 'The Last Stylebender'.
Whittaker suggested he's targeting a return to the octagon in October. Ever since he lost the 185-pound gold to Israel Adesanya in 2019, he has wasted no time in getting back into the title picture.
He beat three of the top middleweight contenders in Darren Till, Jared Cannonier and Gastelum back-to-back to re-establish his dominance in the division.
Robert Whittaker describes his relations with Israel Adesanya
Whittaker has never been one to engage in trash-talk. 'Bobby Knuckles' goes inside the octagon, gets the job done, and leaves for home without a lot of animosity and bad blood towards his opponent.
Given that this is the exact opposite of the persona that Israel Adesanya carries, there is bound to be some friction between the two.
Whittaker admits that he is not fond of 'The Last Stylebender'. In an interview with Mike Howard, 'The Reaper' said:
"Let's not talk too much about Israel (Adesanya) because I think he's a piece of sh*t. He's just a sh*t person. Piece of sh*t was too rough, too harsh; he's a sh*thead. That sounds better. I don't like him, he doesn't like me. We're just like that. We're just different cats on two different paths that just don't get along."
But Whittaker did admit that Israel Adesanya's trash talk in the lead-up to their first fight had quite the impact on the way he fought on that fateful night at UFC 243. Whittaker said:
"I lost my cool. I wasn't really fighting like I know I should fight. Like I normally fight. Props to him. He got into my head but I just think he's a sh*thead," said Whittaker as he immediately apologized for swearing.
Also Read: UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya says he’s on a mission to "f*** Robert Whittaker up"