Robert Whittaker reveals he was unsure about his return to fighting after losing to Israel Adesanya at UFC 243

Robert Whittaker recently stated that he thought about quitting the sport following his loss to Israel Adesanya at UFC 243.

During an exclusive interview with Fox Sports Australia, Whittaker shared that he lost the motivation and enjoyment for the game after dropping his middleweight title to Adesanya:

"After the loss with Israel, I took a step to the left. So, I left the game and I didn't know whether I would come back to the game. Because at the time, I wasn't enjoying anything. I didn't enjoy the lead-up to the fight. I didn't enjoy fight week. I didn't enjoy media. I wasn't enjoying myself day to day and I had to understand why I was doing things, how I was doing things, how I wanted to do things and where I wanted to go."

Catch Robert Whittaker's exclusive interview with Fox Sports Australia below:

Whittaker and 'The Last Stylebender' first fought at UFC 243 in front of more than 57,000 fans in Melbourne. The fight ended on an unfortunate note for 'The Reaper' as he was finished in the second round by Adesanya.

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Robert Whittaker comments on Israel Adesanya's trash talk

In the same interview, Whittaker talked about Adesanya's trash talk and how it affected his mindset in their first encounter.

'The Reaper' also went on to say that he has grown out of his hate for the Nigerian-born New Zealander:

"He's a loudmouth. He talks a lot of trash, especially once his adrenaline's up and his blood's pumping. He loves mouthing off and that's his thing. That's what he does. It annoyed me the first time but I'm good now... I think, you know, some of that sutff got to me the first time... I don't hate him. It's too tiring. I did hate him for the longest time and it was exhausting and then I realized like, 'Why?' Like, there are worse people than him."

Since his loss at UFC 243, Whittaker has stacked up an impressive three-fight win streak and earned his way back to a title shot. He will meet Adesanya for the second time at UFC 271 for the middleweight belt.