Robert Whittaker makes it clear, he never denied fighting Israel Adesanya.
Following Whittaker’s win over Jared Cannonier at UFC 253, Dana White said Whittaker would likely be next in line for Adesanya. However, a week later, he announced “The Last Stylebender” would be moving up in weight to fight Jan Blachowicz for the light heavyweight title as Whittaker didn’t want the fight.
For the former middleweight champion, he says that is not true and will move up to light heavyweight in order to get that rematch.
“I certainly think he took a little twist to what I said,” Whittaker told MMA Junkie. “I never said I don’t want to fight Izzy. That’s not something I said. I did not say that. I’m looking to fight March, April next year. I would like to fight Izzy. If Izzy’s moving up to fight Jan, then I’ll move up and fight him there if he gets the win. I want that fight. I do want that fight. We just had to work it into that timeline.
“I have no control on what the UFC’s going to do or what Izzy’s going to do, but whether he’s here at middleweight or up at light heavyweight, I’ll take the fight him.”
With Israel Adesanya moving up in weight, Robert Whittaker is now in limbo on who he will fight. However, he has made it clear he is not interested in fighting until March as he wants to spend the holidays with his family.
When “The Reaper” wants to return, he is hoping he can get his rematch with Adesanya despite what Dana White says.
