I cannot believe that this fight is happening. At UFC 243 in October we will see rising star and interim middleweight champion Israel Adesanya try to unify and keep his belt against middleweight king Robert Whittaker.
Interim belts only mean as much as the fighter holding it and Adesanya means something to the future of the 185 pound division. He’s touted as the heir apparent to Anderson Silva and to prove it he stepped in to the cage and beat him. He’s the real deal folks. Not waiting for the torch to be passed – he took it.
Whittaker is a monster at middleweight and Yoel Romero, a muscle mass of mean couldn’t take him out in two attempts. There is zero doubt that Robert is worthy of the throne and a decisive denial of Adesanya would silence any critics. Except for the trolls on the internet because keeping it 100 no one can stop them from trolling.
Whittaker winning would place the division in a holding pattern as they all tried to earn the right to challenge with no clear contender next in line. This fight has weight to it and consequences which always makes a bout feel big.
They dropped the poster for their October clash and both of them look like they are clutching those belts tightly daring the other to come take it. Check it out.