"I want that third fight" - Robert Whittaker is determined to earn Israel Adesanya trilogy, intends to test waters in new weight class afterward

Robert Whittaker is open to moving up a weight class but not before he gets a third fight against current middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.

'The Reaper' is currently in Singapore for the UFC 275 event. During a conversation with Oscar Willis for The Mac Life, Whittaker said that he wanted to test the waters in the light heavyweight division but only after a trilogy fight against 'The Last Stylebender':

"I want to get back at Israel. I want that third fight, especially after the way the second fight went, you know. I want that fight with him and man, I'm good at middleweight... I think I will test the waters at [205lbs division] one day but, you know, I'm gonna give it one last dig. I'm gonna give it one last run at him and yeah, I think the best is still to come."

Catch Robert Whittaker in conversation with Oscar Willis below:

Whittaker has fought Adesanya twice and has come up short both times. The first encounter took place at UFC 243 where 'The Reaper' was knocked out by the New Zealander in the second round.

Their second fight at UFC 271 lasted the entire 25 minutes and ended with a unanimous decision victory for Adesanya.

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Israel Adesanya is set to compete again in July

Israel Adesanya is set to defend his middleweight title for the fifth time at UFC 276 in July. 'The Last Stylebender' will take on Jared Cannonier in the main event of the card.

Cannonier last competed at UFC 271, which was headlined by Adesanya. 'The Killa Gorilla' knocked out Derek Brunson in the second round to earn a title shot.

Israel Adesanya's coach Eugene Bareman believes Cannonier will be a "proper challenge" for the champion, unlike some of his previous opponents. He told It's Time For Sports in a recent interview:

"What Jared's done and stripped a lot of that weight off and moved down and we know from that experience that a lot of those attributes that you have as a heavy heavier person, they don't go nowhere. You hit like a heavier person and you have the strength of that heavier person but in a smaller frame... We have to be tremendously prepared for this opponent... this is a proper challenge, this is right up there, this is not a Paulo Costa or [Marvin] Vettori. There's some very difficult problems that Jared Cannonier is going to put in front of us."

Watch the interview below: