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Israel Adesanya successfully defended his middleweight strap for the third time against Marvin Vettori in the main-event at UFC 263. In the post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, 'Izzy' called out former champion Robert Whittaker, whom he had defeated back in 2019.
Soon afterward, Whittaker took to Twitter to respond to Israel Adesanya's callout. Hinting at a potential matchup against Adesanya in the near future, Robert Whittaker wrote:
"Rest up, see you soon."
Israel Adesanya put in a flawless performance against Marvin Vettori that earned him a lopsided decision victory, with all three scorecards reading 50-45. 'The Last Stylebender' backed up his lofty claims by schooling Vettori over the entire course of five rounds while impressively defending the Italian's takedown attempts.
Israel Adesanya dedicated the win to late friend and City Kickboxing training partner Fau Vake, who was brutally beaten and later succumbed to injuries in May. 'Izzy' then took the opportunity to call out his next potential opponent and demanded a rematch against Robert Whittaker. Asking for the fight to take place in New Zealand, Israel Adesanya told Joe Rogan in the post-fight interview:
"I don't know what will happen with all this COVID s**t, but if he wants to run that back, we will do it in Auckland - my territory. Do you know why? Because I'm the mother f***ing king of this place."
Robert Whittaker is also keen on fighting Israel Adesanya
Since losing his middleweight strap to Israel Adesanya at UFC 243, Robert Whittaker has gone on a three-fight win streak, including wins over Jack Hermansson and Darren Till. In his most recent outing, Whittaker put on a striking masterclass against perennial contender Kelvin Gastelum in the main event at UFC Vegas 24.
Whittaker then targeted a title shot against Israel Adesanya after consolidating his No.1 ranking against three top contenders. Robert Whittaker told ESPN:
"There is no other fight. It's just that fight left. I have defended the number one spot three times against the next big thing. And I got the win once again against an opponent that gave Adesanya himself a hard fight. So I know that's the only fight left."
