Robert Whittaker: “I’ve Already Earned” Israel Adesanya Rematch
Robert Whittaker scored a unanimous decision win over Jared Cannonier at UFC 254, which he believes puts him in line for a rematch with UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.
The former middleweight champion wants another shot at Adesanya because Whittaker says he has earned another shot at him.
“Well, I’ve already earned the right to it. I’ve already earned that right to fight for a title. That’s what that fight with Jared was. That fight was number one contender. What’s funny was, everyone was telling Jared, like, you win this fight, you get a shot at the title. No one was saying that to me (laughs). That’s what this fight is, and that’s the right I earned. I earned a shot at a title. So, that’s where I’m at. I’ll fight Izzy one way or another. Middleweight, light heavyweight, whatever,” Whittaker said on Submission Radio.
Adesanya and Whittaker met for the first time at UFC 243 and Adesanya knocked out Whittaker to win the middleweight gold on that night. Whittaker understands that Adesanya may not want to face him again since he won the first fight, but that won’t stop Whittaker from hustling for a rematch.
“I guess the ball is in his court. He’s the champ, he beat me last time. So, I’m hustling for a rematch like a salty kid. But yeah, I don’t mind. It is what it is. Shouldn’t have lost the first time. But I’m excited for… I’m not excited, cause fighting’s never really fun, it’s kind of stressful, but I look forward to that rematch, cause as a fighter, as an athlete, I want to try and get that one back. You know, I have that thing, that chip here that wants to run that back. But he’s looking really good, man, he’s looking really, really good. I think that will be a ridiculously hard fight. Yeah, let’s see,” says Whittaker.
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