Adesanya eyes UFC record

New Zealand MMA star Israel Adesanya predicts his middleweight title fight with Robert Whittaker will produce a UFC record crowd.

The pair clash on October 6 at a venue yet to be confirmed, though it seems certain the transTasman super fight will be held in Australia.

Whittaker is the defending champion while Adesanya has the interim belt from a fight-ofthe-year candidate against American Kelvin Gastelum in April.

In 2015 Ronda Rousey and Holly Holm drew 56,214 fans to their fight in Melbourne, an attendance that remains a record for UFC.

Given their budding rivalry and strong Kiwi connections – Whittaker was born in New Zealand but fights out of Australia – Adesanya believes they can eclipse that figure in October.

‘‘It’s going to be big, maybe bigger than that,’’ Adesanya said on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show yesterday.

Adesanya was in Las Vegas last weekend to watch Jon Jones survive the first split decision of his long and remarkable career to retain his light heavyweight title against Thiago Santos.

Adesanya wasn’t impressed with Jones who he feels is getting too old. He spoke of a plan to fight the UFC legend at an even bigger venue in Vegas – the new domeroofed stadium being built to house the NFL’s transplanted Raiders. The stadium is due to be completed in July 2020 and will hold up to 72,000 people.

‘‘It’s going to happen,’’ the always confident Adesanya said. ‘‘I decided two days ago when I was in my hotel room. I decided it’s going to happen at [the] Raiders’ stadium in Las Vegas.’’