The UFC will be starting 2022 with a middleweight title fight rematch.
UFC President Dana White revealed to The Daily Telegraph that Israel Adesanya will rematch Robert Whittaker in January. The fight still isn’t a done deal, but it’s something the promotion is actively working on booking.
“That’s a fight we want to make, so we’re working on it,” White said (via MMAJunkie). “I will get that done. That’s what we’re working on – we’re working on January.”
After Adesanya beat Marvin Vettori in June at UFC 263 he called out Whittaker and the hope was the fight would happen in December. However, due to a few reasons, the fight didn’t come to fruition, and they are looking at it happening in January.
The fight will likely headline the pay-per-view, but according to White, unfortunately, Adesanya-Whittaker 2 won’t happen in Australia or New Zealand.
“You know what sucks? With everything that’s going on right now, when you think about that fight, that fight should be done over there (in Australia or New Zealand). But that ain’t going to happen,” White said about Adesanya-Whittaker 2. “Listen, I don’t like to be all cocky and sh*t, but we will do everything in our power to get that stuff worked out.”
Israel Adesanya is coming off a decision victory over Vettori to defend his middleweight title. The victory also got him back into the win column after he lost a decision to Jan Blachowicz for the light heavyweight title. He has defended the middleweight three times with the other two defenses coming over Paulo Costa and Yoel Romero.
Robert Whittaker, meanwhile, is on a three-fight winning streak since losing his belt to Adesanya by TKO. During his winning streak, he has beaten Kelvin Gastelum, Jared Cannonier, and Darren Till by decision.
Who do you think will the rematch between Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker?
