With UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya chasing a second title, Robert Whittaker is willing to wait his turn.
Whittaker (22-5 MMA, 13-3 UFC), who cemented his spot as the No. 1 middleweight by defeating fellow contenders Darren Till and Jared Cannonier, is looking to take some time off and is targeting a return in March or April next year.
But, after Dana White announced that Adesanya (20-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) will move up in weight to challenge UFC light heavyweight champ Jan Blachowicz, Whittaker has been left in a quandary.
Paulo Costa (13-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC), who suffered a second-round knockout to Adesanya at UFC 253, called out the Australian, but Whittaker doesn’t think the matchup makes sense for him.
Hey Robert Whittaker enjoy your end of year, you deserved. When you come back we can do amazing fight
— Paulo Costa ( Borrachinha ) (@BorrachinhaMMA) October 25, 2020
“Hey Robert Whittaker enjoy your end of year, you deserved. When you come back we can do amazing fight.”
“The only real logical fight for me right now is Izzy,” Whittaker told MMA Junkie. “I’ve held this spot as (number) one twice now in the last four, five months, and that’s a fight he (Costa) just lost his contention to the title. That’s really the only fight that I am interested in at the moment. It’s very hard for me to be interested in anything else.”
White said the reason the UFC opted to book a superfight between Adesanya and Blachowicz is because Whittaker wasn’t keen on a rematch. But Whittaker is baffled by White’s claim and thinks his words were misconstrued. Either way, the former UFC middleweight champion is happy to see how Adesanya’s next fight plays out and will decide on his next move from there.
Robert Whittaker not interested in Paulo Costa: ‘The only real logical fight’ is Israel Adesanya