UFC middleweight champion Israel ‘The Last Stylebender’ Adesanya isn’t lacking any motivation for his upcoming rematch against Robert Whittaker at UFC 271.
In the latest episode of Stylebender’s YouTube series, UFC 271 Fight Camp, he talked about his motivation to beat Whittaker for a second time and what makes him more dangerous than opponent he’s faced in the past.
“I mean, the motivation for me is just – (Robert Whittaker) he’s not making excuses like (Marvin) Vettori or (Paulo) Costa. He’s accepted his loss. He finally admitted that I was in his head, that he was emotional. And I was like, yeah, you finally admitted what I was saying this whole f*cking time. So that makes me take him seriously. Like he’s accepted that, so that makes me take him seriously. That – okay, he’s got a point to prove as well.”
“He’s been training. He’s motivated. That gets me up in the morning.”
“Shut him up again, worse than the first time. That’s what gets me motivated.”
In their first fight at UFC 243, Adesanya defeated Whittaker via technical knockout in the second round to become the undisputed middleweight champion.
Since then, Adesanya (20-1) has gone on to defend the title three times. His lone loss is against former UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz, when he went up a weight class and attempted to become the fifth fighter in UFC history to ever hold two belts simultaneously.
Whittaker has gone on to win three consecutive fights since suffering the knockout loss to Adesanya back in 2019.
UFC 271: Adesanya vs. Whittaker 2 is set to take place on Saturday, March 12, at the Toyota Center in Houston Texas.
