Ex-UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker reveals that he 'hated' Israel Adesanya's trash talk

It seems as though the former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker is not a big fan of trash talking.

In a recent interview with MMA on Sirius XM, Robert Whittaker was asked about the impact Israel Adesanya’s trash talk had on him ahead of their fight at UFC 243 in October last year. Whittaker replied: "I think it was just one more thing that piled on top. One more thing we threw over the pile of what already was a cluttered mess…. I can’t discount the hype and the build-up and the attention me and him were receiving… I am certain it did play a factor. I’ll be lying if I say it wasn’t but I think it was just a cherry on top, not so much the driving factor.”

Robert Whittaker does not have a reputation as a trash talker. When asked how does he let go of all the verbal barrages he receives in his bouts, he replied by describing his feelings before his fight with Izzy. “There was a time before our fight that we were going from one press conference to the other, one after the other," Whittaker said. "It was like a political battle. It didn’t make any sense. I hated that. It wasn’t our sport, it wasn’t what we were doing. It was just silly.”

🔊 "If the word battle was the game, I'm pretty sure I could be decent at that, but that's not the game." 💪@robwhittakermma tells @RJcliffordMMA & @MieshaTate exactly what role Israel Adesanya's trash-talk played in their fight. pic.twitter.com/1VVMbs0twi

— MMA on SiriusXM (@MMAonSiriusXM) October 30, 2020

Israel Adesanya would go on to win the fight via a second-round knockout.

Robert Whittaker has since defeated Darren Till and Jared Cannonier in his subsequent bouts.

Robert Whittaker won't return to the Octagon until 2021

After his impressive win against Cannonier at UFC 254 last month, it had been widely speculated that Whittaker would be granted a rematch with Adesanya.

Whittaker, however, had made it clear before the Cannonier fight that he wanted to spend the festive season with his family and will not be fighting again in 2020.

Skinny Rob now on the shelf until next year. #bestweightcutyet #imready #ufc254 #inabudhabi #yasisland #reapernation @ufc @UFC_AUSNZ pic.twitter.com/KvmEYgLMEK

— Robert Whittaker (@robwhittakermma) October 23, 2020

Adesanya was subsequently booked to fight UFC Light Heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz for the latter’s belt, news confirmed by UFC president Dana White just a few days ago.

It will be interesting to see who ‘The Reaper’ faces when he returns to the Octagon in 2021 but we can all be sure that there will not be much trash talking from his end in the build-up.