While Robert
Whittaker disagreed with the scorecards in the UFC 271
main event, he nonetheless vanquished some demons even in losing
his rematch with Israel
Adesanya.
After relinquishing the middleweight crown to Adesanya in a
second-round knockout loss in October 2019. Whittaker offered a
much better performance the second time around, attacking behind
his left jab and lead left hook while keeping his opponent off
balance through takedowns and clinch work. Ultimately it wasn’t
enough to offset Adesanya’s versatile striking arsenal, which
notably included a knockdown in Round 1 and a steady diet of
chopping kicks to the legs.
“I thought I did enough, I thought I did enough. Breaking it down,
I think I lost the first round. I put myself together and I beat
him to every punch. I got takedowns. I thought I did enough,”
Whittaker said at the UFC 273 post-fight press conference.
“But it is what it is. That’s how work goes in the office. I’m
going to go back evolve some more, get better, and fine tune the
things that I’ve been working on, and come back a better man.”
Whittaker worked his way back to a rematch with Adesanya by winning
three straight fights, and he’s proud of the evolution he has
undergone during that process — even though he was unable to regain
the middleweight belt.
“Honestly, though, Izzy was my biggest obstacle, my biggest hurdle.
He beat me in a good fashion the first time,” Whittaker said. “I’ve
been working and angling myself to evolve and to get better and
I’ve done that. You can see it in this fight how far I’ve come. To
the point that I think I beat him. So, I’m excited. I’m excited for
the future. The ceiling is nowhere in sight. There is no ceiling
for me.”
Despite officially holding an 0-2 record against Adesanya,
Whittaker is confident that a trilogy will eventually happen.
That’s due in large part because “The Reaper” doesn’t see any other
185-pound contender getting past him, and he doesn’t expect his
rival to lose the belt, either.
“A third fight between me and Izzy is inevitable because I’m going
to stomp anyone that comes in front of me again,” Whittaker said.
“He knows that too that’s why he said he’ll be seeing me in the
future. I don’t see him losing the belt any time soon. He is good.
He is good. I think I’m the person to beat him. And my mission
stays the same, beat the next guy in front of me.”
Adesanya, meanwhile, was non-committal regarding a third meeting
with Whittaker. At least in the immediate future, “The Last
Stylebender” is looking forward to facing some new contenders at
185 pounds.
“I said, ‘Maybe.’ “I said, ‘You rack up some good wins, and I’m
sure I’ll see you down the line,’” Adesanya said of a post-fight
exchange with Whittaker. “I say that to kind of just pat them on
the butt – ‘Ah, good job, kid.’ But we’ll see. I mean, the
division’s filled with killers, but I’m looking forward to fresh
meat.”