Den gångna helgens match mellan Israel Adesanya (17-0 mma, 6-0 UFC) och Kelvin Gastelum (15-4-1 mma, 10-4-1 UFC) avgjorde vem av dessa som härnäst ska möta mellanviktskungen, Robert Whittaker (20-4 mma, 11-2 UFC). En riktigt tuff match som krävde fem ronder för att utse en vinnare: Israel Adesanya.
Inte imponerad
Ursprungligen var det tänkt att Gastelum skulle utmana Whittaker om mellanviktstronen tidigare i år. Då mästaren akut fick köras till sjukhus under den tilltänkta matchdagen på grund av ett tidigare okänt bråck så fick Adesanya sin chans på ett interimbälte istället. En chans som han alltså förvaltade väl.
Whittaker anser dock inte att han lärt sig nåt nytt om sin kommande utmanare, Adesanya, under den gångna helgen. Snarare tvärt om. I en intervju med Submission Radio hade han följande att säga:
“Nothing new at all. I feel that that fight showed exactly what I’ve been saying the whole time. I think he’s (Adesanya) great, but he doesn’t like getting hit, he doesn’t look great going backwards, and I just don’t think he’s as good as he thinks he is. Like *laughs*, let me be clear, that’s not putting it on him, because I know he gets very upset whenever I say anything negative about him *laughs*, but I’m saying it was a great fight, he showed a lot of heart and technically he’s amazing, but yeah, he got hit, he got hit and he got hurt. And if Gastelum can hit and hurt him, I can hit and hurt him.”
Gastelum svårare
Whittaker anser att Gastelum hade varit en svårare match för honom än vad Adesanya kommer att bli.
“Definitely, [Gastelum would have been a harder fight for me]. Now, I’m not saying that Adesanya is an easy fight for me. I think stylistically he matches up much better with my own style. Stylistically, I always wanted to fight Adesanya. Gastelum is just a keg. He’s a keg. When I was watching him fight Adesanya, that’s the fight that I was expecting when I was gonna fight Gastelum. Like, that’s the fight I had prepped for 12 weeks, and like, that’s the fight I had in mind when I was almost gonna fight him in Melbourne. And I’m happy, I’m very happy Adesanya had that fight *laughs*.”
Tuffa matcher tär på en
Whittakers senaste två matcher har varit mot den explosive of farlige Yoel Romero (13-3 mma, 9-2 UFC) som vid bägge tillfällena gick tiden ut och var riktiga ”krig”. Så Whittaker vet hur mycket såna matcher tär på en.
Sedan Whittaker senast var i buren, juni 2018, så har Adesanya hunnit gå hela fyra matcher.
“Fighting takes a lot out of you, and a fight like that with Gastelum takes a lot of you. A lot, a lot out of you. And yeah, your neural systems go to places they shouldn’t in fight situations. It’s very intense, and I think fighting this much will start to wear him down. I think it will start to show. I feel like it started to show in the Gastelum fight.”
Whittaker fortsätter:
“I think he’s had a lot of fights. That last fight was a war and I intend to exploit that. When he got hit, when he got hurt, he just didn’t want to be there. He just didn’t want to be there. That’s what I saw. He just looked like he didn’t want to be there. Yeah, you know, but then I could be mistaken. Who knows.”
Oavsett så anser inte den regerande mästaren att hans kommande match mot den nya interim-mästaren kommer att bli ett ”krig” i buren.
“Nah, it won’t be a war,” Whittaker stated. “Not with me and him. It’s gonna be short and sweet, brother, trust me. Oh, I guarantee you, I guarantee you [it’s going to be one-sided].”
Vad tror du? Vem kommer att gå segrande ur denna fight och varför?
