UFC 263: Dana White wants Israel Adesanya vs Robert Whittaker title fight rematch ‘ASAP’

White says ‘The Last Stylebender’ already told him days before win over Marvin Vettori he wanted Whittaker next
‘Adesanya has become a very badass champion for us. He is definitely without a doubt the king of that division right now,’ White says

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

Andrew McNicol

Published: 8:12pm, 13 Jun 2021

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Dana White said he and reigning middleweight champion Israel Adesanya are already talking about his next fight with former champion Robert Whittaker.

“The Last Stylebender” Adesanya (21-1) successfully defended his belt against Marvin Vettori (17-4-1) via unanimous decision at UFC 263 on Saturday night – his third defence since taking the title from Whittaker (23-5) via second-round TKO in Melbourne, Australia in 2019.

“Vettori is a tank, man, he’s so tough and durable. The amount of leg kicks he took and he never buckled. He was just in there with a much better athlete tonight,” White said at the post-fight press conference of Nigerian-Kiwi Adesanya, who lost his only fight in a heavyweight title fight against Jan Blachowicz in March.

White also praised 31-year-old Adesanya’s improved wrestling and takedown defence given he made the transition to MMA from kick-boxing.

“It’s almost like he gets better every time,” White said. “The other thing I love about Adesanya is that before this [Vettori] fight happened, two or three days ago, we got the word that ‘I want to fight again in October’. He hadn’t even fought yet and this kid is talking about his next fight. I love that.

“Adesanya has become a very badass champion for us. We’ll figure out him and Whittaker ASAP. New Zealand or Australia I would highly doubt it [as a location because of Covid-19 restrictions].”

Though Adesanya’s first fight with Whittaker was extremely one-sided, the 30-year-old New Zealand-born Australian has since been on a three-fight win streak, beating Darren Till, Jared Cannonier, and Kelvin Gastelum in April via unanimous decision. “The Reaper” tweeted, “Rest up, see you soon.” immediately after Adesanya called him out post-fight.

White, who has often spoken about his admiration for the pair, appeared to favour Adesanya for the bout whenever or wherever it may be.

“[Adesanya’s] feint game is off the charts. What I’m really impressed with about him is his wrestling … [Vettori] got into a position where he couldn’t take him down and could stand with him. Everywhere he went was a bad place for Vettori,” he said.

“He looks unbelievable. He is definitely without a doubt the king of that division right now.”