Robert Whittaker on Israel Adesanya: ‘We’re Not Cool’

Robert Whittaker realizes that he isn’t chummy with Israel Adesanya.

Whittaker and Adesanya are set to collide in a middleweight title unification bout on Oct. 5. The bout will headline UFC 243. Whittaker holds middleweight gold, while Adesanya is the interim title holder. A location for UFC 243 has not been announced.

Whittaker served as a guest on Submission Radio. On the show, “The Reaper” said he has no desire to hash things out with “The Last Stylebender” outside of trading leather:

“The thing is, I haven’t done anything differently, I haven’t changed.

“Yeah, he’s just gotten mouthy. I guess he had to to get the title shot, which he got due to his performances in the Octagon and the way he sells his fights, which is, all props to him. I think that’s great the way he did it. And that’s kind of how he sells fights and how he does stuff.

“But that’s him though. I’m not playing like that. We’re not cool. Like, you can sell the fight, and I’m happy for you to sell the fight. Actually, I encourage it. But I’m not a part of that little game. Like, we’re not cool. We’re not cool like, I’ll be civil. Like, what am I, an animal? Like, I’ll be civil with him, but I don’t want to talk to him. I don’t want to talk to him, and yeah, we’re not like, we’re not friends.”

Adesanya has taken issue with Whittaker reposting disparaging memes on social media. He’s also criticized “The Reaper” for his response to Jon Jones’ offer to train with him.