"It wasn't me out there" - Robert Whittaker explains what cost him first fight against Israel Adesanya

Robert Whittaker has explained why he lost to Israel Adesanya at UFC 243 in front of his home crowd in Melbourne, Australia.

'The Reaper' came into this bout on the back of a nine-fight win streak. However, he lost the middleweight title thanks to an Adesanya KO.

Whittaker, in an interview with LowKick MMA, said the lead-up to the first fight wasn't how he wanted it to be. 'The Reaper' also admitted that he was annoyed by Israel Adesanya and that 'The Last Stylebender' got under the Australian's skin.

He said:

"I didn't get that satisfaction after the first fight. I lost, but I feel like I didn't give a hundred percent. I feel like it wasn't me out there, I feel like in the lead up it wasn't how I wanted to do things, so if I can do all that in this fight moving forward, I'll leave satisfied... I think everybody's got ego, but I feel like some people just don't want to look into it... I guess why [Israel Adesanya] got under my skin, and I have looked at it, it was my ego getting the better of me. I was threatened by this new guy coming in and doing my thing and taking it from me. I think that got to me..."

Adesanya and Whittaker did not exactly have bad blood going into their first fight. However, in the press conference leading up to UFC 243, the Kiwi accused Whittaker of posting demeaning memes on social media.

'The Reaper', true to his personality, stayed humble and apologized to Adesanya during the press conference.

Watch the full UFC 243 pre-fight press conference below:

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Robert Whittaker expects a respectful build-up to UFC 271 fight against Israel Adesanya

Robert Whittaker believes the second fight against Israel Adesanya will be much more respectful as the two competitors have matured since their first fight.

He also assured that his ego won't come into play this time and will certainly not affect the outcome of the fight.

"Yeah, I don't know [if Adesanya is gonna be respectful]," said Whittaker. "The only thing I can control is my actions and I'm over that side of the game. I have completely come to terms with why I do things, how I do things and my ego certainly won't be a problem in this next one... I think we can have a real respectful fight. It's the second fight and we are the two biggest names over the side of the world so yeah, I think it'll be something different."

Watch Robert Whittaker's full interview with LowKick MMA below:

Whittaker will look to avenge his loss and reclaim his middleweight title against Israel Adesanya at UFC 271 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas on February 12, 2022.

The other middleweight bout on the card is Jared Cannonier vs. Derek Brunson. This clash will very likely decide the next contender for the UFC middleweight gold.