The Daily Populous Sunday July 4th, 2021 day edition
Authored by mmamania.com and submitted by RyanOfEarth

Former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker is eager to lock down his rematch with current 185-pound king Israel Adesanya in order to prove his first loss to “Last Stylebender” was a result of emotional exhaustion.

Whittaker, who lost his title to Adesanya via second-round knockout at UFC 243 back in Oct. 2019 (highlights HERE), has done everything in his power to fight his way back to a rematch with the champ. This includes three-straight wins over top contenders Darren Till, Jared Cannonier, and Kelvin Gastelum. Whittaker even had a chance to fight Adesanya this past June but scheduling conflicts prevented the rematch from happening.

Still, Whittaker is completely focused on getting back inside of the cage with Adesanya, even if he can’t stand to talk about “Last Stylebender.”

“Lets not talk too much about Israel because I think he’s a piece of sh-t,” Whittaker said in a recent interview on The Howie Games. “He’s just a sh-t person. A sh-t person. Ah, a piece of sh-t is too rough. Too harsh. He’s a sh-thead. There that sounds better. He’s a sh-thead. I don’t like him, he doesn’t like me. Two cats from two different paths that don’t get along.”

Whittaker, who still holds an incredible 11-1 record in the UFC’s middleweight division, believes that he dropped the ball in his first meeting with Adesanya. In fact, “Bobby Knuckles” thinks he lost the fight even before it started. From personal issues outside of the cage to Adesanya’s pre-fight trash talk, Whittaker believes a lack of emotional control cost him his middleweight strap back in 2019.

“It did, because the last fight I was kind of very emotional,” Whittaker admitted when asked if Adesanya’s trash talk paid off. “I was in a bad place for the sport itself, for my career. I got a bit emotional in that fight because I don’t like him very much and on top of everything else that was going on. Lost my cool. I wasn’t really fighting like I should fight, like I normally fight. Props to him, he got in my head. I just think he’s a shithead.”

At this point Whittaker has done enough to sit out and wait for his rematch with Adesanya, who is coming off a lopsided title defense against Marvin Vettori at UFC 263. We’ll have to wait and see when the second installment is booked and if Whittaker can withstand the emotional ride this time around.

G_rodriguez69 on July 3rd, 2021 at 22:00 UTC »

Been waiting for this quote to see some daylight. Rob’s Howie Games podcast interview was a few months ago. It’s a really good long form interview, with a host that knows nothing about MMA but ends up being really interested in it.

Mrdrderm on July 3rd, 2021 at 21:44 UTC »

Adesanya the piece a shit

Anticreativity on July 3rd, 2021 at 21:31 UTC »

Whittaker: He’s just a shit person. A shit person. Ah, a piece of shit is too rough. Too harsh. He’s a shithead. There that sounds better. He’s a shithead.

MMA Journalist: Robert Whittaker says Adesanya is a piece of shit.