Robert Whittaker is as confident as ever that he’ll defeat Israel Adesanya
It’s usually been the case in this sport that when you lose to a champion twice, it’s unlikely that you’ll get a third shot at the same champion. We saw it when Georges St-Pierre defeated Josh Koscheck twice, and when Kamaru Usman defeated Colby Covington twice. You have to put in some real work if you want to challenge a champion for the third time after losing twice before. This is why Robert Whittaker was pulling for Alex Pereira to defeat Israel Adesanya at UFC 287. Had Pereira won, Whittaker would have been next in line to challenge for the middleweight title.
Unfortunately for Whittaker, he’s back to being in a confusing spot, as Adesanya is once again the middleweight champion. He needs to do more work before challenging Adesanya again. Though this isn’t the best case for Whittaker at this time, Adesanya’s performance lit a fire under him. Seeing Adesanya compete at UFC 287 made Whittaker even more confident that he’s going to defeat him if and when they fight again.
“Izzy fought Pereira four times over the course of his career,” Whittaker told Ariel Helwani on “The MMA Hour.” “I’m only gonna need to fight Izzy three times because I will beat him that next time. I’m 100 percent confident that I will beat him that next time.”
Seeing Adesanya defeat Alex after losing to him three times before inspired Whittaker to do the same to Adesanya but in one fight less.
Max Holloway and the Korean Zombie want to fight each other
Max Holloway continues to prove that after Alexander Volkanovski, he’s the best featherweight on the planet. Last weekend, Holloway did what no fighter in nine years and 12 fights has done: He defeated Arnold Allen. Prior to fighting Holloway, Allen looked spectacular in the UFC with a career record of 19-1. Had he won, Arnold would have guaranteed himself a title shot against the winner of Volkanovski vs. Yair Rodriguez. Holloway looked like the same fighter he was when he reigned as the king of the division.
Unfortunately for Volkanovski, as long as Holloway is in his division, it looks like he’ll be killing off contenders before they can even make it to a title shot. Holloway has always fought the best of his division, but he now has his eyes set on a special attraction fight. He wants to compete against “The Korean Zombie,” Chan Sung Jung next, and “Zombie” is down for it. This is good news for the division, as it doesn’t kill off any prospective title contenders at Featherweight.
Quick Hits
- Belal Muhammad vs. Gilbert Burns is set for five rounds at UFC 288.
- Bobby Green plans to legally change his name to King.
- Demetrious Johnson might retire after his upcoming fight.
- Jan Blachowicz vs. Paulo Costa is being discussed by the UFC.
- Jose Aldo apologized to Conor McGregor after recently degrading him.
- Raquel Pennington vs. Irene Aldana 2 will headline the UFC event on May 20.
- Dana White confirms Alex Pereira must fight a contender before a title shot at 205.
- Charles Oliveira vs. Beneil Dariush is being moved to UFC 289 in Canada.
- Dricus Du Plessis rejects Kelvin Gastelum‘s fight offer.
- Ilia Topuria vs. Josh Emmett will headline the UFC’s return to ABC.
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