"I was rooting for him" - Israel Adesanya praises Robert Whittaker for "phenomenal" contribution to Oceanian MMA

Israel Adesanya heaped praise on upcoming opponent Robert Whittaker for his contributions to Oceanian MMA over the years. Adesanya and Whittaker are scheduled to fight each other in a much-awaited rematch in the main event of UFC 271 this weekend.

Although they aren't really friends, Adesanya had some nice things to say about Whittaker heading into their rematch. 'The Last Stylebender' praised Whittaker for his achievements inside the octagon and admitted to having rooted for him during 'The Reaper's rise to the top.

The Nigerian-born Kiwi acknowledges and appreciates Whittaker's immense contribution towards putting Oceanian MMA on the map. During a recent conversation with TSN's Aaron Bronsteter, the reigning middleweight champ said:

"Me and him are not the best of friends, me and Rob but what he has done for Oceanian mixed martial arts, for Australian mixed martial arts has been phenomenal. His rise to the top from the TUF series, TUF nations to then becoming a middleweight champion, must be applauded, you know. I was rooting for him, I was like 'man, you know it doesn't matter, like we're just all fighters, we're all dudes on the same kind of mission just taking different roads.'"

Check out Adesanya's conversation with Bronsteter in the video below:

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Israel Adesanya wishes to fight Alex Pereira down the line

Israel Adesanya has yet again reiterated his interest in fighting Alex Pereira down the line. Pereira is just one fight old in the UFC, having recently made a remarkable debut against Andreas Michailidis on November 6, 2021 at UFC 268. Pereira won the fight via flying knee TKO in the second round.

The Brazilian has fought Adesanya on two occasions previously but under kickboxing rules. Pereira won on both occasions and holds the record for being the only man to have ever knocked out Adesanya.

The challenge of conquering the seemingly unconquerable interests 'The Last Stylebender' and he wants to share the octagon with Pereira some day.

"Yeah, I hope so [to fight Pereira in the future], I hope so. My coaches don't think so but I hope so because that's the story I like, you know. The guy that finished me in kickboxing, he comes to MMA to try and do the same thing, living off the same clout for the last 10 years or whatever it was but yeah, I hope so," Adesanya said.