If fight fans will take one thing from UFC 271, it’s that the middleweight division has two all-time greats sitting at the top. Israel Adesanya sealed a unanimous decision win over Robert Whittaker, but both fighters have improved immeasurably since their first fight when Whittaker lost his belt.
“Bobby Knuckles” told the post-fight press conference that he fully intends to return to a title challenge once again. “A third fight is inevitable, because I’m going to stomp anybody that comes in front of me again, and he knows that, too.
Whittaker Promises Adesanya Trilogy Fight: ” I’m going to stomp anybody that comes in front of me again”
My mission stays the same: beat the next guy in front of me.” Israel Adesanya, meanwhile, is more interested in seeing Jared Cannonier in the near future. “I said, ‘Maybe.’
I said, ‘You rack up some good wins, and I’m sure I’ll see you down the line.’ I say that to kind of just pat them on the butt, ‘Ah, good job, kid.’ But we’ll see. I mean, the division’s filled with killers, but I’m looking forward to fresh meat.”
Whittaker also mentioned that he believed he’d done enough to earn a decision win, and promised to return to competition an improved fighter and happier man.
“I thought I did enough. I thought I did enough. Breaking it down, I think I lost the first round, I put myself back together. I think I beat him to every punch. I got takedowns.
I thought I did enough, but it is what it is. That’s how work goes in the office. So I want to go back, evolve some more and get better. Fine tune the things that I’ve been working on, and come back a better man. Honestly, though, at the moment, Izzy was my biggest hurdle.
He beat me in a good fashion the first time, so I’ve been working and angling myself to get better, and I’ve done that. You can see in this fight I just had with him, how much [farther] I’ve come, to the point where I think I beat him. So I’m excited for the future. The ceiling is nowhere in sight. There is no ceiling for me, I believe.”
Whittaker’s next step at this stage is unclear. He will likely need to string together four or five decisive victories in order to fight Israel Adesanya once more, but that’s hardly out of the question. If Israel eventually moves up to light heavyweight, we may even see Robert the Reaper as champion once again.
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