UFC President Dana White confirmed the promotion is gearing towards booking a rematch between UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and former champion Robert Whittaker.
White spoke with The Daily Telegraph and was asked if there was any update on a date being set for the rematch between the two middleweight stars. He said the UFC is hoping to target January for the second meeting between Adesanya and Whittaker, also sadly confirming that neither Australia nor New Zealand will likely be the host for the fight.
“That’s a fight we want to make, so we’re working on it,” White said (h/t MMA Junkie). "I will get that done. 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. 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. That’s what we’re working on – we’re working on January.”
Adesanya dethroned Whittaker in the pair's first meeting to become the UFC middleweight champion back at UFC 243 in Melbourne, Australia on October 6, 2019, via a second-round knockout. Since then Adesanya has defended the title three times, defeating Yoel Romero, Paulo Costa, and Marvin Vettori. Whittaker on the other hand has won three straight since dropping the title to Adesanya, defeating Darren Till, Jared Cannonier, and Kelvin Gastelum.
#UFC243
— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) October 23, 2019
Doing #Anime tings in the #MarvelUniverse ...IDGAF!!#whosmansisthis #therearenorules #fuckingnerd pic.twitter.com/2dxmeKrzte
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