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UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is looking to successfully defend his belt for the sixth time against Alex Pereira at UFC 281 next month. Adesanya recently revealed which middleweight opponents he would like to face in the future.
During a recent appearance on BS W/Jake Paul, Adesanya was asked about middleweight opponents that he wants to fight. The No.2-ranked pound-for-pound fighter stated:
"The hillbilly, Strickland. I just wanna whoop his a**. I really just wanna whoop his a**. A good fighter actually I wanna fight is Robocop [Gregory Rodrigues]... He had that gash, you can not forget that gash. He had that cut clockwise. He's solid, he's a good fighter. No beef, no nothing, I just think he's gonna come up to the top and I'd like to test myself against a guy like that."
He continued:
"Even Khamzat, if he does well. Leon's the champ now, but you gotta fight the top of the top at welterweight first. He does well, he gets the belt, why not? I love to test myself against people like that... The story's still being written. Everybody can get it, man, woman or child. If you can crawl, we can brawl."
While it is not surprising that Israel Adesanya listed Sean Strickland and Khamzat Chimaev, both of whom called him out, Gregory Rodrigues was an unexpected inclusion. Rodrigues is currently unranked and not in the title picture. His toughness shown at UFC Fight Night 210 clearly impressed the middleweight champion, however, as Adesanya believes he will soon be in title contention.
Watch Israel Adesanya's full comments on potential middleweight opponents below (starting at the 27:23 mark):
Robert Whittaker backs Israel Adesanya to successfully defend his middleweight belt at UFC 281
Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker are very familiar with one another. After Adesanya defeated Whittaker to claim the middleweight belt at UFC 243. 'The Last Stylebender' came on top in their rematch at UFC 271, successfully defending the belt for the fourth time. As Adesanya looks for his sixth successful title defense, his former opponent is backing him to win the fight.
During a recent appearance on MMA Pros Pick, the No.1-ranked middleweight stated:
"If I was a betting man, I'd have to go with Adesanya, you'd have to. I think he's the best defensive striker in the game, physically it just makes perfect sense for him to fight that way and he's a tricky guy to hit, but Pereira is huge, man. He's a huge guy and they've fought before so they have some sort of understanding of each other's reach."
Whittaker noted that smaller gloves will be the biggest factor in the UFC 281 main event. Adesanya will be looking to avenge his two kickboxing losses to Pereira.
Watch Robert Whittaker back Israel Adesanya below (starting at the 0:10 mark):
