UFC: Israel Adesanya vs Robert Whittaker rematch set to happen

The UFC middleweight rematch involving Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker is set to happen pretty soon, BSNSports.com.ng reports. Whittaker had battled his way to the top of the fight game with nine consecutive wins to capture the UFC middleweight championship. The sport is always changing, however, and Whittaker ran into a force of nature in Adesanya and lost the title via second-round knockout in October 2019. With the 185-pound division lacking in clear title challengers some nearly two years later, Whittaker finds himself back in the mix for another shot at Adesanya. And that is after picking up decision wins over Darren Till and Jared Cannonier. He will face Kelvin Gastelum on Saturday in the main event of UFC Fight Night. And a victory could land him back in the Octagon with Adesanya. The fight was originally set to be with Paulo Costa who suffered his own knockout loss to Adesanya in the champion’s second title defense. But Costa was forced to withdraw from the bout. The change did affect Whittaker’s mindset, he told ESPN in March. While a win over Gastelum would seem to set Whittaker up as the only sensible option for Adesanya, the Australian was accused of turning down a rematch with Adesanya in late 2020. “Definitely not,” Whittaker said in a separate ESPN interview. “I would never do that. Which sane man would? You get paid more for title shots. “I guess there was a miscommunication and maybe, the timelines didn’t work. “I guess some people can argue, ‘If he wanted it that bad, he would have fought straight away.’ “I wanted December off at all costs. I wanted to enjoy Christmas with my family and there was nothing more important than that. “I got to experience that and I’m very happy. I was there for the birth of my fourth child which is great.