Robert Whittaker believes he has improved more than Israel Adesanya since their first fight - "I'm a better fighter"
Robert Whittaker believes he has improved more than upcoming opponent Israel Adesanya since their previous bout more than two years ago.
In 2019, Adesanya snatched the title from Whittaker with a knockout victory in the main event of UFC 243 at Melbourne's Marvel Stadium. The pay-per-view broke the attendance record for a UFC event, with 57,127 spectators watching the action unfold live.
During a recent appearance on Morning Kombat, 'The Reaper' was asked if 'The Last Stylebender' has improved since their showdown in Australia. He responded in the negative.
"To keep up with me and my skill set, definitely not. I think my skill sets are much more diverse than his. I think I'm a better fighter. I honestly do. Otherwise, I would not be fighting him; if I didn't have the confidence and belief that I can beat him. And yeah, I look to shake his head on the weekend."
Watch Robert Whittaker in conversation with combat sports journalist Brian Campbell below:
No.3 UFC men's pound-for-pound fighter Adesanya and the No.14-ranked Whittaker will square off in a rematch at UFC 271 inside Houston's Toyota Center next weekend.
Robert Whittaker holds an impressive 11-1 record in the middleweight division, while he is 12-4 as a welterweight
Robert Whittaker is 23-5 so far in his professional MMA career. He is a former Superfight Australia welterweight champion and also won The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes 170-pound division tournament.
Only after five UFC bouts, which included losses to Stephen Thompson and Court McGee, did Whittaker make his middleweight debut. He took on Clint Hester at UFC Fight Night: Luke Rockhold vs. Michael Bisping in Sydney on November 8, 2014, and won via TKO.
#OnThisDay in #MMA. Nov 8 2014. Robert Whittaker makes his Middleweight debut taking out Clint Hester in impressive fashion. https://t.co/W77MbLWRHF
A subsequent four-fight winning streak handed Robert Whittaker an interim middleweight title fight against Yoel Romero at UFC 213 in July 2017. He secured a unanimous decision triumph to claim gold.
After then-champ Georges St-Pierre vacated his belt in December of the same year, Whittaker was promoted to undisputed titleholder. He faced and beat Romero one more time before losing to Israel Adesanya.
The 31-year-old New Zealand-born Australian has since won three consecutive outings to seal another contest with Adesanya. Overall, he has defeated contenders like Uriah Hall, Derek Brunson, Darren Till, Jared Cannonier and Kelvin Gastelum in the 185-pound weight class.