Eugene Bareman says Robert Whittaker has a ‘champion’s attitude’ entering his rematch with Israel Adesanya at UFC 271.
Adesanya got the better of Whittaker almost 3 years ago at UFC 243. ‘The Last Style Bender’ would absolutely style on Whittaker in front of his home crowd of 57,127 fans. Whittaker would be brutally knocked down twice before having his belt snatched.
Stepping away from the fight, Whittaker would contemplate retirement. Instead of going through with that, ‘The Reaper’ would reap 3 amazing wins over top contenders and earned his way back to the title picture.
Recognizing Mistakes
Unlike Adesanya’s former foes, Marvin Vettori and Paulo Costa, Whittaker would accept his loss for what it was. Whittaker believes his own ego was a reason for his downfall. Adesanya’s coach, Eugene Bareman respects the Aussie for owning up to it, especially when others can’t.
“That’s what I expected from Robert,” Bareman told Submission Radio. “Robert is one of the best in the world because of that attitude. Over the course of his career, his coaching team and himself has been able to remove his ego out of the situation and recognize his mistakes.
“A lot of fighters, they can’t do that. They can’t take a step back and understand that they made mistakes. If you don’t recognize that you’re making a mistake, you can’t change.”
A Champion’s Attitude
Not every fighter may has this evolving mindset, but Bareman believes his pupil, Israel Adesanya, has it as well. This would be key for Adesanya after losing to Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259 last March. He’d bounce back with a dominant decision win over Marvin Vettori.
Bareman expects the same mentality from Whittaker this time around.
“Israel has a very similar attitude… You can always tell by the way these guys lose. you can tell how far they will come back. Robert lost to Israel well. He knows [and] acknowledges the situation where he got thoroughly beaten and that’s the only way you can come back.
“When Israel lost to Jan [Blachowicz], he understood the situation and as he knows he got thoroughly beaten, recognized some mistakes and he came back. That’s a champion’s attitude. That’s how you really reach the pinnacle in the sport. I’d expect that attitude from Robert.”
