Robert Whittaker believes Israel Adesanya wants to hog the limelight.

Adesanya has been showered with praise following his “Fight of the Year” candidate against Kelvin Gastelum. “The Last Stylebender” picked up the unanimous decision win to capture the interim UFC middleweight title. Not everyone was impressed, however as Jon Jones and Paulo Costa took to social media to criticize Adesanya. Whittaker, on the other hand, offered praise to his next opponent:

“[Israel Adesanya], great fight mate. See you soon.”

“The Reaper” was a guest on ESPN’s Ariel Helwani MMA Show. Whittaker said that he feels the competitive aspect between the two goes a bit beyond simply finding out who the best is. He thinks Adesanya is after fame (via Greg Rosenstein):

Robert Whittaker on Israel Adesanya:

“He can’t stand the fact that people like me more than him. He wants all of the spotlight, all of the attention. I find it funny it gets to him so much.”

Adesanya and Whittaker have traded light barbs in the past. Whittaker expressed his belief that Adesanya isn’t as good as he thinks he is. Barring any injuries or other unforeseen circumstances, it shouldn’t take us much longer to find out who is the undisputed king at 185 pounds.