Robert Whittaker wants to unify the UFC middleweight titles with Israel Adesanya in his “backyard” of Sydney, and he thinks the matchup is favorable to him. Whittaker (20-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC), the UFC middleweight champion, said he was closely watching Saturday’s interim 185-pound title bout that saw Adesanya (17-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) defeat Kelvin Gastelum (15-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC) by unanimous decision to set up a title unification matchup. The fight will be a big one for the weight class, particularly because Adesanya hasn’t been hesitant to throw verbal jabs in Whittaker’s direction at nearly every turn. Whittaker said the whole thing stems from an interview where he said Adesanya “wasn’t as good as he thinks he is” and that his UFC 234 victory over Anderson Silva wasn’t particularly impressive. Related UFC 236 salaries: Max Holloway, Israel Adesanya lead payouts with $350,000 Sean Shelby's Shoes: What's next for Dustin Poirier, Israel Adesanya after UFC 236 title wins? Whittaker said the performance and win over Gastelum was a step up, but it also gave him great confidence that he can take away Adesanya’s undefeated record
Here is the original post: