Robert Whittaker explains why Israel Adesanya trash talk doesn’t faze him
At UFC 243, Robert Whittaker looks to defend his middleweight against riding star, Israel Adesanya.
In the build-up to the fight, Adesanya has trash-talked Whittaker a ton, yet the champion isn’t letting it get to his head.
“Not at all,” Whittaker told MMA Junkie. “If it had become personal, I would have taken care of it personally. He’s just selling the fight, and he’s being human, and he’s running his own thing, and I’m happy for that. It takes work off my plate. But I can’t be anybody but myself. I’m just doing the same thing I always do.
“I find a lot of what he says funny. I get a good chuckle out of it. So yeah, it definitely has not affected me. I look forward to fighting him on Sunday just because he’s a good fighter, plus he wants it.”
When the two share the cage, Robert Whittaker makes it known it isn’t personal and just any other fight. All he wants to do is preparing for war and getting his hand raised at the end of it.
“I never have any expectations with fights,” Whittaker said. “I prepare for a war, and I’m pleasantly surprised with anything else, so I am prepared to go to war with this guy. I’m prepared to drag it out and make it dirty, make it messy for five rounds, 25 minutes, every second of it being hard. I am prepared for that, and I’m happy to take it there if that’s where he wants it to go, but as far as I’m concerned, I have 25 minutes to put him away, and I’m going to use every minute to try and do that.
“It’s just another part of my journey. I’m going to get out there, and I’m going to put on a show like I always do and always have.”
