Former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker was as shocked as the rest of the MMA world to see Israel Adesanya dethroned by Alex Pereira at UFC 281. Perhaps more so, considering that Whittaker lost the belt to Adesanya in the first place, and in his most recent Octagon outing lost to Adesanya via decision. At a recent press conference, Whittaker pointed out that, thanks to his own wrestling pedigree, he feels confident in a potential matchup against Pereira, despite the obvious size disparity between the two.
“As I said before, I’m not planning past [Paulo] Costa, but I can say that I think Pereira’s a better matchup for me than Israel.
Whittaker a Better Matchup For “Absolute Giant” Pereira
Just because of the way he stands and the way he likes to push forward. The way he likes to fight I feel gives me a better edge, but in saying that, did you see the size of the fella? I’m like, why is nobody mentioning that? Dude’s just giant. He’s an absolute giant.
I’ve been face to face with Israel and it’s surprising to see like, Israel’s pretty big. He looks tall and lanky, but he’s actually a big dude. Then you see Pereira up against him and just his facial features are bigger, feet and hands and forearms are massive. I’m just thinking like, who let this guy in?
But still, I think I can take him.” Whittaker openly considered abandoning his quest for to recapture the UFC middleweight belt following his most recent loss to Adesanya. Considering this latest development in the middleweight title conversation, however, Whittaker is open to mounting another challenge. The first step, however, is to dispatch Paulo Costa at UFC 284, which will take place on Whittaker’s home turf in Australia.
“I understood that if I waited until November to wait to see who would come out on top that I could possibly waited out [for] a title shot. The thing is in doing that, I’ve done that before … I just end up sitting on the bench for so long. I’m sick of it.
I’m sick of waiting. I just want to get in there, I want to fight. The fact that it’s in Perth is even better. It’s an Australian card, it’s a hop and a skip from where I live. So, I’m really looking forward to getting in there and giving a good showing.”
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