Israel Adesanya drops surprise training photos and videos with former two-time rival Robert Whittaker, Alex Pereira and others react

Many in the MMA world were ecstatic to see Israel Adesanya sparring with Robert Whittaker, as proven by his recently shared training photos on social media. UFC stars, including Alex Pereira and Kamaru Usman, and fans expressed their admiration for Adesanya and Whittaker.

Adesanya took to social media and shared pictures along with a few clips of him training with Whittaker, writing:

''New year, new friends''

Pereira penned his well-known catchphrase under the comments section, writing:

''Chama''

Stephen Thompson wrote:

''Let’s go!!! Love seeing 2 martial artist with tremendous skills training together! #MuchRespect''

Former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling wrote:

''Love to see it!''

Fans were also quick to share their reactions in the comments section.

One fan wrote:

''This just made my day, you can tell their story is over. Unexpected but love this friendship''

Another one stated:

''Nah this is the coolest thing I’ve seen all 2025! Some good news in the world. Keep it up the both of you!''

Check out more reactions below:

Fan reactions [Screenshots courtesy: @stylebender on Instagram]

Adesanya's second-round knockout victory over Whittaker at UFC 243 marked the beginning of his reign as middleweight champion. The two squared off in a rematch at UFC 271, where Adesanya won again, this time by unanimous decision.

Adesanya successfully defended his title five times before losing to Pereira at UFC 281, but he recaptured it in their rematch at UFC 287. Unfortunately, 'The Last Stylebender' lost his throne to Sean Strickland at UFC 293 and could not reclaim it after suffering his first career submission defeat to Dricus du Plessis at UFC 305.

Meanwhile, Whittaker is 3-2 in his last five octagon appearances after his rematch with Adesanya. In his recent MMA outing at UFC 308 last year, 'The Reaper' suffered a brutal opening-round submission defeat against Khamzat Chimaev.

---

Israel Adesanya is ready for Nassourdine Imavov clash

Israel Adesanya's recent octagon appearances haven't gone according to plan, however, he has the opportunity to get back in title contention with a potential win over Nassourdine Imavov.

The two will lock horns in the main event of UFC Saudi Arabia next month on Feb. 1 at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh. Ahead of their matchup, Adesanya took to his social media and posted an edited clip of his UFC bouts, writing:

“Winning has no meaning without the possibility of losing. What’s the point in playing if you can’t die.”

Check out the post below: