Robert Whittaker dubs Israel Adesanya’s UFC 263 performance as average, ‘Stylebender’ responds

Robert Whittaker dubbed UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya’s UFC 263 performance as average, and “The Last Stylebender” responded.

Adesanya defeated rival Marvin Vettori in the pair’s rematch as last weekend’s UFC 263 pay-per-view event in Glendale, Arizona. Adesanya was able to utilize his superior striking and showed improvements in his grappling as he was able to win a unanimous decision over the Italian. Vettori, of course, only got the title shot against Adesanya after Whittaker was forced to decline it due to the fight’s close proximity to his matchup against Kelvin Gastelum in April. With Whittaker unable to take the fight at that time, Vettori stepped up and got the title shot instead, only Adesanya was able to go in there and win handily.

In response to Adesanya’s performance against Vettori, Whittaker had some interesting choice of words to say about the champion’s showing. According to “The Reaper,” it was overall an average performance by the champion. As far as Whittaker is concerned, Adesanya was able to do what he needed to win, but it wasn’t an impressive showing and it was a fight where Whittaker believed Adesanya showed holes in his game. In response to the comments from Whittaker, Adesanya fired back with a comment towards his rival.

https://twitter.com/espnmma/status/1406994578239111170

The rematch between Adesanya and Whittaker figures to be the next matchup for the UFC middleweight title. Adesanya has beaten most of the top contenders at 185lbs so now it’s at the point where he is getting rematches, and Whittaker is absolutely deserving of one. Though Whittaker was knocked out by the champ the first time they fought at UFC 243 in October 2019, Whittaker has since won three straight fights. He’s proven he’s ready for another title shot, and the goal is for these two to meet sometime before the end of 2021.

Do you agree with Robert Whittaker that Israel Adesanya had an “average” performance at UFC 263 against Marvin Vettori?