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Israel Adesanya believes he's in Robert Whittaker's head after his resounding victory in their first encounter at UFC 243.
After dropping the middleweight championship via KO over two years ago, 'The Reaper' has returned to title contention with some impressive performances. Whittaker has picked up wins over Darren Till, Jared Cannonier and Kelvin Gastelum to cement his status as the No.1 contender.
During the UFC 271 press conference, Adesanya stated he's living in Whittaker's head "rent-free" despite the Australian's improvement. The Kiwi said:
"After beating them, you're in their head. I was already there anyway but you're already in their head, once you beat them... the way I did it last time, you can't get over that. It takes a lot of work, and I feel like he's done the work. He's admitted what I was telling him... I'm glad he's finally admitted I was right... I still have properties in there rent-free."
Watch the UFC 271 press conference below:
Robert Whittaker reveals the reason for UFC 243 loss to Israel Adesanya
Robert Whittaker has revealed that the pressure of fighting in a stadium in his home country of Australia, combined with other external factors, contributed to his loss at UFC 243.
'The Reaper' stated that he channeled those frustrations towards Israel Adesanya, which clouded his mind with "anger and hate." During an interview on The DC Check-In, Whittaker said:
“Honestly, I think there was a lot of things going on. Like, I was stressed out by a lot of different things. I’ve mentioned it before like, I was burning on a whole host of other stuff. I think all of the external factors, I just kind of directed towards him [Israel Adesanya] and took it out on him; which then clouded my mind with anger and hate. And all I wanted to do was rip his head off. And you can see that in the fight.”
The 30-year-old revealed that his strategy was to get into range with the longer Adesanya, but he lost his composure and rushed in recklessly. Whittaker added that the hype surrounding 'The Last Stylebender' got to him, saying:
“It upset me that this guy was like, everyone was talking about him and underselling me. And then just, I don’t know. It was a weird dynamic. It did make it personal because it was personal. But that was then.”
Watch Robert Whittaker in conversation with Daniel Cormier below:
