At UFC 234, Robert Whittaker will defend his UFC middleweight title against Kelvin Gastelum. The fight takes place after the pair coached opposite one another on The Ultimate Fighter. The winner of the bout could very well be facing Israel Adesanya in their first title defense next.
Adesanya had a coming out party at UFC 230 last month, defeating Derek Brunson via first-round knockout. Recently, UFC President Dana White said he was set to speak with “Stylebender” about a possible title opportunity. Adesanya caught up with The Daily Telegraph after the meeting to discuss a possible UFC middleweight title shot.
Currently, with Whittaker as champion, Adesanya was asked how he thinks he matches up against the Australian striker. Adesanya seems very confident that he can topple “Bobby Knuckles”:
“Then I beat him wherever I want,” Adesanya said. “If I’m being frank, Rob is lacking defensively and that’s where I’ll take him. And I can do that any way I want. I know he’s a fighter who wants to go out there and bust people up, but I’m not a guy you mess with. And once I’m champion, there will be a lot more eyes on this division. I’m the guy making s… happen.”
In regards to his meeting with White, Adesanya said they have come to an agreement on who his next opponent should be. Of course, he wasn’t at liberty to name who exactly it is just yet:
“We discussed my next fight and reached an agreement on who that opponent should be. So now I’m just waiting for the ‘OK’. I can’t tell you too much but it’s now not a matter of if I fight for the title but when. Everything is panning out exactly as I expected.”
What do you think about a possible match-up between Adesanya and Whittaker?
