I. Adesanya wants to fight for the middleweight belt. Photo: Reproduction/Youtube ufc
Israel adesanya fought an epic battle with Anderson Silva in the main fight of UFC 234, last Saturday (09). The Nigerian beat the Brazilian by unanimous decision and put himself in line for a fight for the middleweight title. However, he will have to wait for the category champion to recover, Robert whittaker. In an interview with the North American program MMA Hour, The Last Stylebender' stated that Ultimate should strip the New Zealander of the belt.
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Adesanya believes it would be better for the middleweight division if the organization removed the New Zealander and put the vacant title up for grabs. Israel pointed out that the ideal confrontation would be between him and Kelvin Gastelum.
“I think Robert (Whittaker) should be removed. When he recovers, he could be the number one contender, so Kelvin (Gastelum) and I should fight for the real belt. (…) This is not the first time he has had to leave due to an injury or something. (…) When he’s well, he can come and face me”, said Anderson’s executioner.
With just a few hours left until UFC 234, Whittaker was diagnosed with a hernia and removed from the main fight, where he would put the belt on the line against Gastelum. The clash between the middleweights should have taken place at the end of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) in November 2018, in which the fighters were the teams' coaches. However, the New Zealander was recovering from surgery on his right hand and the duel was postponed until 2019.
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