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Following Paulo Costa's withdrawal from his upcoming fight against Robert Whittaker, the former UFC middleweight champion has reportedly requested a rematch for the title.
According to a report from Sporting News, Robert Whittaker's team has requested the UFC to grant the former 185-pound champion a rematch against reigning middleweight king, Israel Adesanya.
At the UFC 243 pay-per-view back in 2019, Robert Whittaker lost the UFC middleweight title to Adesanya. Having beaten both Darren Till and Jared Cannonier in 2020, Robert Whittaker is currently on an impressive two-fight win streak.
Instead of booking Whittaker vs. Adesanya II, the UFC decided to match The Reaper with Costa. Borrachinha himself is on the back of his first-ever loss when Adesanya stopped him in the main event of UFC 253.
While the exact reason for Costa's withdrawal against Robert Whittaker is still unknown, reports have claimed that the Brazilian fighter was forced to pull out due to illness. Costa is said to be suffering from the flu.
Will the UFC book Robert Whittaker in a rematch with Israel Adesanya?
Israel Adesanya recently failed to win the UFC light heavyweight title from Jan Blachowicz. The hard-hitting Polish champion successfully defended his 205-lbs title for the first time and prevented Adesanya from completing his quest to become a double champion.
Post his loss at light heavyweight, The Last Stylebender is now expected to make his return to the middleweight division.
Adesanya recently claimed that he is rooting for Darren Till to win his fight against Marvin Vettori and earn the next title shot. However, a rematch with Whittaker shouldn't be written off either.
This weekend's UFC Vegas 22 will mark the beginning of a long stretch of middleweight main events. Kevin Holland will return to the Octagon and square up against Derek Brunson.
On April 10, Darren Till will face off against Marvin Vettori in UFC's return to the ABC Network. Their encounter is another fight that could play a huge role in deciding the next challenger for Israel Adesanya's middleweight crown.
