UFC 236: Israel, Adesanya, attacks Robert Whittaker before the fight for Kelvin Gastelum

Israel Adesanya could easily be forgiven for thinking that he has to beat two men to lift the intermediate weight belt of the UFC.

Because whenever the name of Adesanya is mentioned before Saturday's fight (Sunday NZT) against Kelvin Gastelum at the UFC 225 in Atlanta, it is always followed by two words: Robert Whittaker.

At three days of the biggest battle of his life, a casual Adesanya, undefeated in MMA with a 16-0 record and a 5-0 record at UFC, could not resist another verbal blow to Whittaker (21-4) when he stated that the UFC middleweight champion should have left office.

"If I were in his situation, 'cool, take the belt' because I know I'm going to get it back, that's how confident I am." [Whittaker] not so confident, "said Adesanya in response to a series of questions about Whittaker.

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A Whittaker-born Australian born in New Zealand defeated Ronaldo Souza in April 2017, but due to injuries and health problems he defended him twice in the next two years, winning two victories over Yoel Romero in July 2017. (UFC 213 and during a rematch in June 2018 (UFC 235).

"I've had one year, five fights, so imagine when I'll be champion … what I'm going to do in three years," Adesanya said.

For those unfamiliar with the Adesanya-Whittaker story, here's a quick catch up.

When the Kiwi, of Nigerian descent, defeated MMA legend Anderson Silva at UFC 234 in Melbourne in February, Whittaker was to beat Gastelum to defend his middleweight champion belt and stage a trans confrontation. -tasmanien.

But Whittaker suffered a "monster" abdominal injury on the eve of the fight.

Adesanya comfortably beat Anderson with a unanimous decision win after three rounds, but Gastelum did not fight. Both parties contested Saturday.

"I do not sting it, I sting it," said Adesanya about her injuries to Whittaker during Wednesday's (NZT) training at the Chick-Fil-A College Hall of Fame – just a few minutes away. State Farm Arena Adesanya and Gastelum streets will be contested Saturday night.

Adesanya, confident, interacted and joked with the audience during her training in front of a few hundred fans.

But Adesanya, who has moving hands as fast as her spiritual mouth, is not a model. Far from it, he understands the commercial element of the fighting game as much as the technical aspect and he knows he can not afford to be distracted by Whittaker's words before the fight against Gastelum.

"It's not about him [Whittaker] for now, it's about Kelvin, "Adesanya said, asking Whittaker another question.

A defeat against Gastelum, a violent fighter, would derail the mega fight against Whittaker for the unified championship.

But despite his fight for the belt during his sixth fight at the UFC, Adesanya surfs on a wave of confidence after the mental challenge of beating Silva – a hero from his childhood – to further reinforce his belief that he is the best middleweight in the world.

"I have evolved from this experience," he said.

The 29-year-old admits that Gastelum is dangerous, but claims to have no hesitation in fighting, because of a busy schedule with five fights in a year, because that would be easier than the competition's Silva and that he was starting to get itchy. joins ".

"I just wanted to beat me, belts on the line – it makes sense, that's history," he said.

The Kiwi fighter thinks he can control Gastelum with his jab if he runs it according to his own standards.

"It's all about me and my way of moving in this fight, it's not really about him [Gastelum]", Said Adesanya.

"He can do what he wants but I will make him do what I want him to do.

"He has three good standing weapons that I think are coming out very well," said Adesanya.

* Mat Kermeen went to Atlanta with the help of the UFC.