Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker faced off for the first time at the UFC Summer Press Conference, and Adesanya came prepared for verbal warfare. The only problem, as Robert Whittaker describes it, is that Adesanya is engaged in a one-man war.
When UFC 243 finally has a location set, Whittaker will know when to arrive with weaponry in tow to give Adesanya a war for the paying audience to see. As for the verbal war? Robert Whittaker was sitting on the same stage as Adesanya but was a no-show. Israel Adesanya did not let-up on his jabs at Whittaker, though, even as Whittaker refused to engage in return, and Adesanya believes to know the reason why:
“Face to face is different than online when you can do an interview and talk some shit,” Adesanya asserted in an interview with Eyes on the Game. “I’ll say to his face what I want to say. I’ll never say to someone online what I wouldn’t’ say to your face. And he’s been doing that. He’s been making memes…and trying to make memes anyway. Jesus Christ, they’re horrid, but also trying to recruit people to help him.”
The “help” Israel Adesanya is referring to is Jon Jones publicly offering training assistance to Robert Whittaker for his UFC 243 middleweight title unification bout against Adesanya. And The Last Style Bender believes to know why Whittaker was accepting of that help, and it’s the same reason why he deems Whittaker’s in-person demeanor to have shifted:
“He knows what he’s in for,” Adesanya said. “So I’m like, hey, enjoy your time while it lasts because there’s a new king in town.”
What are your thoughts on Israel Adesanya’s theory on Robert Whittaker’s behavior in the months prior to UFC 243?
