Israel Adesanya did not appreciate Robert Whittaker's comments about how he would use his only loss in MMA to help beat him. The UFC champion took some time but he responded back in typical fashion.

Israel Adesanya may have one the first fight almost three years ago but that doesn't mean he plans to use the same strategy. The UFC middleweight champion was quick to shut down that idea in a recent interview.

“I’m not going to fight him the way I fought him the first time, and I know he’s not going to fight me the way he fought me the first time,” Adesanya said, speaking to Combat TV. “He’s a silly boy. If he thinks he has someone else’s blueprint to beat me, he’s a silly man. But his team’s smart, so that’s why I take him seriously. It’s because of his team. He, himself, he’s a silly boy.”

The UFC middleweight champion plans to use the clinch in this fight, something he didn't need to use the last time they fought.Israel Adesanya plans to let him feel just how strong he is.

Related NewsArticle continues below
brad tavares
Brad Tavares re-signs with UFC, eyes set on UFC history
tom aspinall, jon jones
Tom Aspinall teases Jon Jones fight with UFC meeting: “Tonight Could Change Everything”
whittaker de ridder, ufc abu dhabi
Robert Whittaker vs. Reinier de Ridder to headline UFC Abu Dhabi on July 26

“Rob’s going to be in shock,” Adesanya said. “He’s going to be in for a rude awakening is when he feels me because the first time we didn’t clinch. I hope to clinch with him this time because every time they do it and they realize, ‘Oh he’s a lot stronger than..’ they all say that. They think they know how strong I am until they feel me, then they’re like, ‘Oh shit, he’s got that R-Word strength.”

Some fighters may find it hard to get motivated when they fight an opponent they've already beaten in the past. That isn't the case for the UFC champion, he likes to put a lot of pressure on himself.

“For me, not so hard,” Adesanya said. “I won’t even say more difficult, but there’s a – because everybody expects me to wash this guy, same way everyone expected me to wash (Marvin) Vettori. So it’s the pressure I put on myself that I have to dominate in every facet of this fight. Grappling, standup, against the fence, in the clinch, anywhere the fight goes. So I put that pressure on myself because I expect better of myself, and I want to make sure I show out even better than the first time I faced the opponent.”