Israel "The Last Stylebender" Adesanya has had a meteoric rise to the top of the UFC middleweight division, which includes a victory over Kelvin Gastelum in April, where he claimed the interim middleweight title. At UFC 243 on October 6, Adesanya will look to cement himself as the top dog in the division as he squares off against middleweight champion, Robert "The Reaper" Whittaker.
Ahead of their highly anticipated unification bout, Stylebender is doing most of the talking while Whittaker prefers to let his fighting do the talking in the octagon. During an interview with Submission Radio (h/t MMA Fighting), Adesanya discussed the lack of back-and-forth, slinging verbal jabs at "knuckle-dragger" Whittaker all the while.
“Rob’s not the kind of guy that I don’t think… like I said, he’s a mute, he’s a bit of a knuckle-dragger. He’s a throwback, just meats and potatoes, ‘Oh, I do my talking in the cage’. You know that line? ‘I do my talking in the cage’ [laughs]. And so do I, I’m multifaceted. I don’t think if you get in his head or not, I don’t think it makes a difference. At the end of the day, skills pays the bills. I mean, check my resume. Come on, man, check my resume. You see the skills are heavily there.”
In regards to Jon Jones potentially helping Whittaker prepare for the title fight, Stylebender says:
“Let him. Fuck, this is what I mean. Get fucking ISIS. Bring whoever has to help you get ready for this fight, cause they can’t save you. No one can save you. If he thinks Jon Jones is gonna help him – look at Jon Jones’ striking. Don’t even insult me. Come on, man. Wrestling, yes. Get Jon Jones to help you with your wrestling.”
Adesanya, 30, enters UFC 243 with an unblemished 17-0 record, including recent wins over Gastelum, Anderson Silva and Derek Brunson. Whittaker, 28, is 21-4 in his MMA career with nine consecutive wins under his belt, including a pair of decisions against Yoel Romero. He has not fought since June 2018.
UFC 243 is slated to take place in Melbourne, Australia on October 6.