Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker engaged in one of the most exciting fights in the UFC’s Middleweight Division. After everything was said and done, it was Israel Adesanya who emerged on top with a unanimous decision victory. However, many believe that Whittaker did enough to hand Adesanya his first loss in the UFC’s middleweight division. Whittaker also mentioned the same in the post-fight Octagon interview, and there are many who seem to agree with the former champion. Earlier, Chael Sonnen and Anthony Smith opined the same in the post-fight segment on ESPN.
It honestly just excites me, there is no ceiling I’m evolving as a fighter! Thank you to all my fans, supporters everybody involved I do it because of you guys and I’m able to do because of of you guys.
Stay tuned the Reaper is only getting better!!! @ufc @ufcanz #UFC271 pic.twitter.com/cHIaKVvXDt— Robert Whittaker (@robwhittakermma) February 13, 2022
Recently, Israel Adesanya’s coach Eugene Bareman appeared alongside MMA Fighting journalist Ariel Helwani and shared his thoughts on the fight.
“I thought comfortable the whole way through the fight. I am obviously the worst person to make an assessment in terms of the public because obviously, I might have a bias. But I think 4-1 is a good assessment, at a stretch, I don’t see it, but maybe 3-2. but to give Robert the fight, I think, you are dealing with an area of, you’re going into a space where you are teetering with not being intelligent.”
Speaking about whether he was happy with Adesanya’s performance, Euegene Bareman showed no concern regarding the same and stated that he felt the Middleweight Champion won quite convincingly. While it might not a dominant performance that we have grown to expect from Israel Adesanya, it was a convincing victory nonetheless.
Eugene Bareman is quite happy with Israel Adesanya;’s performance, think he beat Whittaker convincingly
“I was happy with his performance. I am not gonna say that was one of his more outstanding performances, I am gonna say that he got the job done convincingly. So I am happy with it.”
Earlier, Adesanya had given himself a 7 out of 10 when asked about how he felt about his performance at UFC 271. Adesanya did not look too optimistic about the result and showered great praise on Robert Whittaker and his improved boxing. He also congratulated Whittaker’s boxing coaches and his team for preparing him for this fight.
Adesanya is eyeing a June return against Jared Cannonier and expressed his desire of squaring off inside the Octagon against the Killa Gorilla in the post-fight Octagon interview at UFC 271. On the same night, Jared Cannonier stopped Derek Brunson with vicious ground and pound to cement his position as the possible #1 contender for the UFC’s middleweight championship.
Do you think Jared Cannonier gives Israel Adesanya a tougher test than Robert Whittaker? Do let us know in the comments section.