Israel Adesanya vs. Robert Whittaker trilogy will expose the UFC middleweight division: Coach Eugene Bareman

Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker have faced each other twice in the middleweight division for the championship. Adesanya recently regained his title from Alex Pereira and Whittaker is set to take on Dricus du Plessis in a title eliminator fight on July 8, at UFC 290.

Adesanya's coach Eugene Bareman spoke to Sky Sports New Zealand and discussed the possibility of a third meeting between Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker. He expressed his disappointment in the lack of fights available in the division:

“Sometimes it’s not all about this fight, it’s about what fight is available. Whoever he hasn’t fought. Dricus said to me, he can get himself a win and Sean Strickland’s coming off a win, if he can get another one… Otherwise you’re looking at fighting guys like three times or four times, it just gets a little bit ridiculous. I mean, really that’s not an Israel problem, that’s a problem to do with the division and those guys need to, people need to put themselves forward."

Bareman also elaborated on the things contenders need to do right to be able to put themselves in the title picture:

"That’s how you become a champion. You put yourself forward, you fight, you do quick turnarounds, you fight whoever they put in front of you, you don’t get injured, you fight through injuries. When you’re a champion, there’s certain liberties you get I guess, but when you are a contender, you are in a scrap. You’re in a proper, fighting all the other dogs for the bone. You’ve really gotta get in there and scrap for it and separate yourself from the rest and put yourself as the number one guy.”

Catch Eugene Bareman's comments below:

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Israel Adesanya next fight: 'The Last Stylebender' predicts Robert Whittaker vs. Dricus du Plessis bout

Israel Adesanya is very keen on fighting Dricus du Plessis for his next fight.

However, du Plessis has already been booked to face Robert Whittaker at UFC 290 and Adesanya believes the chances of him getting through the former middleweight champion are slim. He said on his YouTube channel:

“F***, I just [realized] it is three rounds. Percentage? I say Rob can probably finish him. I’d say Rob can probably get him out of there in the second round, or just beat him up for three rounds... He can’t outlast Rob. I think Rob will be faster than him, fitter than him, so he might just have to make it ugly. But Rob can also fight ugly as well, so we’ll se. Honestly, 70 [percent chance Whittaker wins], but I really want Dricus.”

Catch Israel Adesanya's comments below: