UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and the number one middleweight contender, Robert Whittaker, have come in a full circle after their first title fight at UFC 243 in 2019.

Both the middleweight combatants will clash again inside the octagon in a much-anticipated rematch at UFC 271 on 12th February. The event will take place inside the Toyota Center, Houston, Texas, USA.

Previously leading up to their first clash, both the fighters were involved in heavy trash talk with each other. Later, ‘The Last Stylebender’ knocked out ‘The Reaper’ in the second round of the fight.

However, ‘The Reaper’ ahead of their rematch has claimed that he is a very different fighter from what he was during their first bout. But the champion isn’t buying this. He slammed the title challenger in a recent interview video uploaded on his official YouTube channel.

‘The Last Stylebender’ said, “I guess I humbled him to the sense that he can’t say the s*** he was saying the first time around. Because he was talking all that sh*t saying this and that.”

“Oh, ‘I think Adesanya isn’t as good as he thinks he is’, I remember that. I am the elephant in the f**king room. And I saw those snippets of what he was saying and he was finding it hard to kind of swallow it.” – the UFC middleweight champion added.

“He’s admitting it. He’s saying the right things, but he’s not believing it. His ego still won’t let him, and that’s his downfall, his ego. He has found this newfound mental clarity. I just don’t buy into it.” – Adesanya concluded.

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Israel Adesanya has only lost once since he became the UFC champion

‘The Last Stylebender’ defeated Whittaker in 2019 to become the new middleweight champion of UFC. Later, in his first title defense, the Nigerian-born took on Yoel Romero and secured a unanimous decision victory over him at UFC 248.

In his second title defense, Izzy clashed against the Brazilian Paulo Costa at UFC 253. This time around, the champion left no doubt and finished his opponent via knockout in the second round.

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Later, Izzy announced a move to the light heavyweight division for a greater challenge. He took on the champion Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259 in 2021. Unfortunately, the Polish fighter outworked Izzy on the mat and defeated him via unanimous decision.

This marked Adesanya’s first and only setback in the UFC since his debut in 2018. However, he recently mapped his way back to the green column by defeating Marvin Vettori last year.

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What are your thoughts about Adesanya’s words? Let us know in the comments below.