It is easy to argue that Israel Adesanya should have faced Robert Whittaker at UFC 263. While that did not happen, Dana White says that this fight is next, after Whittaker called for the rematch.
The only person that Whittaker has lost to since 2014, is Adesanya. Since dropping his middleweight title to the fellow Kiwi fighter, he has won three straight, which set him up for another crack at the belt.
In the end, Robert wanted more time to recover after his April bout with Kelvin Gastelum, which left Adesanya to fight Marvin Vettori at UFC 263. After the champ defended his title, Rob took to his social media to let him know that the rematch was happening next.
“Rest up, see you soon,” Whittaker wrote.
Rest up, see you soon. @ufc #ufc263
— Robert Whittaker (@robwhittakermma) June 13, 2021
Dana White Confirms Robert Whittaker Is Next
It seems that Dana White is onboard with the idea of Robert and Israel having a rematch. This was something that he expressed ahead of UFC 263, and this did not change after the result of the contest.
Speaking to media at the post-fight press conference, the UFC President confirmed that Whittaker will be next for the title. In fact, he says that Adesanya said before the fight with Vettori, that he wants to compete again in October, which is when the promotion is targeting the bout.
“Adesanya, before this fight happened, maybe two or three days ago, we got the word that he wants to fight again in October. It’s like, he hasn’t even fought yet and this kid is already talking about his next fight. I love that,” White said. (h/t MMAMania).
“Adesanya has become a very badass champion for us. So we’ll figure out him and Whittaker ASAP.”
Dana White does go on to say that, as much as people want to see the rematch between these two take place in the Oceanic region, that is going to be difficult. Either way, Israel Adesanya vs Robert Whittaker 2 will be a massive affair.
