Watch: Israel Adesanya wears NFT chain mocking Robert Whittaker to UFC 271 press conference, 'The Reaper' responds
At the UFC 271 press conference, Israel Adesanya flaunted an NFT chain with a clip of him knocking out Robert Whittaker on repeat.
Since winning the middleweight crown at UFC 243, 'The Last Stylebender' has successfully defended the strap against Yoel Romero, Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori. Meanwhile, Whittaker climbed back into title contention with impressive victories against Darren Till, Jared Cannonier and Kelvin Gastelum.
When asked about his NFT chain at the UFC 271 press conference, Adesanya took a jab at Whittaker and said:
"This is a moment from the UFC NFT Strike Collection... This is a moment that's from UFC 243 when I took out Rob Whittaker. It's on replay and it just shows the moment over and over... again. But this weekend, I'm looking to create another moment so, yeah, this is fun."
In response, 'The Reaper' admitted that his archrival had bragging rights following their first encounter:
"He beat me the first time. He's got bragging rights. What do I do? If I won the first time, I'd be stomping around as well. It's a cool necklace."
Israel Adesanya's troll game is strong but Robert Whittaker took it in stride. 💀
#UFC271 | Full video: bit.ly/3GIIecM https://t.co/MynPSu3FUr
John McCarthy refuses to rule out Robert Whittaker's chances against Israel Adesanya
John McCarthy doesn't expect Robert Whittaker to walk into his UFC 271 rematch with Israel Adesanya like a lamb to the slaughter. The MMA pioneer lavished praise on Whittaker for his toughness and stated that the Australian is more skilled than Adesanya in certain departments.
He also brought up 'The Reaper's' two fights against Yoel Romero. During a recent episode of the Weighing In podcast, McCarthy said:
"He just is, a tough dude. Especially in the stand-up. He got the decision against Till, he beat Cannonier, and he beat Kelvin Gastelum... He's put on very good performances in all of [those fights]... If you look at the fights themselves, he has been in control of all of them. He has boxed well, he has been using his wrestling and he's been taking people down... This is the guy that went 10 rounds with Yoel Romero. He can fight, the guy is a stud... He has aspects of his game that are better than Israel [Adesanya]."
Check out the entire podcast below:
During his last three fights, Robert Whittaker demonstrated significant evolution and proved that he might be one of the most well-rounded middleweights on the roster. However, he might need to make another significant leap to dethrone Israel Adesanya.