Whittaker’s not so subtle dig at Adesanya
UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker has fired back at Israel Adesanya to further ignite their inevitable transTasman super fight.
The New Zealand-born but Australiaraised Whittaker, who was forced to pull out of his title defence against Kelvin Gastelum due to a ‘‘freak’’ abdominal injury in Melbourne earlier this month, has labelled Adesanya as having an over-inflated opinion of himself.
On that same Melbourne card, Adesanya defeated mixed martial arts legend Anderson Silva by unanimous decision in a fight that was promoted to the main event when the Whittaker and Gastelum fight was abandoned.
Adesanya, who has been chasing a transTasman title fight with Whittaker, was booed by the Australian crowd following his victory when he referred to Whittaker as ‘‘not turning up to work’’.
Whittaker, who could have died if he had fought with the abdominal injury, has now fired back at the Nigerian-born Auckland fighter.
‘‘I think that Adesanya isn’t as good as he thinks he is,’’ Whittaker told the GrangeTV podcast. ‘‘I think he’s very good – very, very good – and I have a lot of respect for his skillset, 100 per cent.
‘‘He’s a dangerous guy. But I don’t think the pedestal that he’s on is as high as everyone else thinks it is, as he thinks it is,’’ Whittaker told GrangeTV.
Adesanya will now fight Gastelum – at a yet-to-be-determined venue – on April 14 for the interim middleweight title at UFC 236.
Whittaker, who will fight the winner of Adesanya and Gastelum, took particular aim at Adesanya’s striking which the UFC champion feels is overrated.
‘‘I think his fight with Anderson Silva
‘‘He’s a dangerous guy. But I don’t think the pedestal that he’s on is as high as everyone else thinks it is, as he thinks it is.’’ Robert Whittaker
was the first time his stand-up capabilities were put to the test with someone with similar stand-up capabilities.
‘‘I don’t think Adesanya’s striking is as good as he believes. It’s very good. I’m not saying his striking is bad, it’s very, very good – but I just don’t think it’s as good as he thinks it is.
‘‘The times Adesanya’s looked very good is against people that don’t have the greatest striking,’’ Whittaker told GrangeTV.
Gastelum, who missed out on a fight in Melbourne after Whittaker pulled out, also had a dig at Adesanya.
‘‘He beat a 43-year old Anderson Silva. I’m not sure that’s a claim for a title shot. But if the UFC decides he’s No 1 contender and gets to skip the five guys in front of him, then so be it. I guess I will fight the No 1 contender and defend my title,’’ Gastelum told media in Melbourne.