Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker met for the first time in the main event of UFC 243, where Adesanya knocked out Whittaker to capture the UFC middleweight championship.
According to coach Eugene Bareman, all of Adesanya’s team is focused on UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz and none of it is on Whittaker.
“The crosshairs are on Jan,” Bareman told Submission Radio. “Robert Whittaker may as well be outside of the scope. He’s not even anywhere near the crosshairs. So, like, yeah, we’re not even mentioning that name. All our focus is on the Blachowicz fight. At the moment, the battle that’s going on is not between the two fighters, it’s between the management teams of both fighters and the UFC. But that’s the battle going on now.”
Whittaker has won two straight since the loss to Adesanya and is ranked #1 in the UFC middleweight division.
Blachowicz would like to see the potential bout with Adesanya happen in March, but Bareman says Adesanya may want to set a different date.
“Jan wants March,” Bareman said. “So, he’s posturing for that in March. So, when you come out and say things like that publicly, on public record, social media and stuff, that’s all part of a strategy to put you in a position to take the fight at a certain date that you want it. But ultimately, there’s two champions involved, and so they both have just an equal right to what day that they want to fight, it has to work for both of them. And ultimately, both these guys work for a company, and that company decides when you fight.”
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