FanPost

'My ego' led to the first Israel Adesanya loss - Robert Whittaker.

  Former UFC Middleweight champ Robert ‘The Reaper' Whittaker sat in an interview with MMA Junkie's Farah Hannoun where he reflects on what went wrong in the first Israel Adesanya fight and how his ego played a big role in the outcome of the first fight.

Robert Whittaker admitted that going into the first fight with Israel ‘The Last Stylebender' Adesanya he was over-emotional. He overemphasized the fight, took it as Australia versus New Zealand, and was not able to perform with the right mindset.

  When asked whether he was a little bit emotional in the lead up to the first fight. Whittaker said "Other opponents have tried it. I think it was a whole host of things, different things, that got him to my own head and it was a lot of things on my end that the way I handled them and in the way I took them that made it worse and I think he (Israel) even mentioned it that my ego was something that got in that affected me. As much as I don't want to acknowledge my opponent for the insights it's like my ego probably was a big thing, well it was a big part of why my head space wasn't where it should have been for that fight, why I was letting the debate between Australia and New Zealand get to me, why I was letting all these little things get to me and I guess it showed, you know the results that showed, in the way that I was behaving, the way that I put the fight together, in the way that I was fighting in that moment. So yeah, I have acknowledged all of that and you can see obviously, I have come to terms with a lot of that and I am a different fighter now than I was then."

Here's the link to the video:

https://youtu.be/Xwhrqc_gyr4?t=254

  Israel Adesanya had blasted his former opponents Marvin Vettori and Paulo Costa for making excuses for their losses and not admitting to the fact that they lost to a better fighter. Adesanya appreciated Whittaker for taking his loss without excuses and sees The Reaper as a dangerous opponent for that reason.

Here's the link to the video:

https://youtu.be/KQUzGPjo3ZE?t=168

  Whittaker appreciated the fact that there isn't a lot of trash talk going into the rematch as opposed to their first fight. He said he would be able to perform better with less sledging and pressure. He acknowledged the fact he made several mistakes in the first fight and he has been working to correct these mistakes since then as he has shown in his last three fights. He is excited to fight and test his skills in the rematch.

Here's the link to the video:

https://youtu.be/Xwhrqc_gyr4?t=177

  When talking about the game plan Whittaker has mentioned that he would like to utilize the full arsenal this time and will try to remain more in the moment. Whittaker also divulged the fact that he would try to utilize the certain weakness that Adesanya has. Whittaker said he would not force the fight to the ground but he knows that where Adesanya is at his weakest.

  Robert Whittaker has already proved that he is the second-best Middleweight in this world by winning his last three fights but could he make the necessary adjustments and regain the Middleweight title. We would find out at UFC 271.