By James Brizuela is a contributing sports activities author positioned in Los Angeles. His focus is on the NFL and MMA. He has in-depth information of the NFL as a complete, having been a fan for over 30 years, and overlaying the game over the past six years. James joined Newsweek in March 2024, having beforehand written NFL content material for Sports activities Illustrated. He’s a graduate of the College of California, Riverside. You will get in contact with James by emailing, j.brizuela@newsweek.com. You’ll find him at X @james_brizuela.
James Brizuela
Contributing Sports activities Author
The UFC middleweight division was as soon as dominated by Robert Whittaker. Whittaker held the belt earlier than shedding it to Israel Adesanya in Oct. 2019.
Extra information: UFC Star Khabib Nurmagomedov Reacts to Viral Video of Being Kicked Off Plane
Following the loss, Whittaker frolicked working his method again to the highest of the division, getting a rematch with Adesanya in Feb. 2022. As soon as once more, Adesanya would defeat Whittaker, making the pair bitter foes, when it comes to the middleweight division.
Although there has all the time been respect between Whittaker and Adesanya, it seems the previous foes at the moment are buddies. Additionally, they seem like coaching collectively.
Adesanya took to X to showcase some pictures and a brief video of him and Whittaker sparring with each other.
“New 12 months, new buddies,” Adesanya wrote within the submit on X.
Being opponents in the identical division can typically result in bitter emotions towards each other, and it might be believed that each Whittaker and Adesanya have been hated rivals. Regardless that the respect is all the time given, they have been each angling to safe a belt within the middleweight division.
Carmen Mandato/Getty Photos
Each Adesanya and Whittaker additionally held the belt at one time, and now they’re each hoping to climb their method again as much as a title shot.
Whittaker most lately misplaced to Khamzat Chimaev, in what many perceived to be the battle to resolve the No. 1 contender. Chimaev simply routed Whittaker, submitting the previous champion within the first spherical.
Whittaker suffered a brutal mouth harm, leading to a lot of his tooth being broken because of the submission. Regardless of the massive win Chimaev should wait, as middleweight champion Dricuss Du Plessis is ready to rematch Sean Strickland for the belt.
Adesanya, however, misplaced to each Du Plessis and Strickland in his final two outings.
Whittaker and Adesanya is likely to be coaching with each other to actually take a look at their expertise to probably climb again as much as title rivalry. It might be attention-grabbing to see if the newfound buddies practice with each other, solely to must face each other once more quickly.
The middleweight division is stacked with stable fighters, and all of the talked about fighters may contend for the belt. Ought to Du Plessis be defeated by Strickland, Chimaev would doubtless be subsequent in line for a title shot after dispatching Whittaker.
Adesanya may also tackle Chimaev subsequent to find out who may very well be the No. 1 contender after Strickland. There are lots of potentialities for this division.
What makes Adesanya and Whittaker coaching collectively so harmful, is that they have all the time been thought-about on the prime of the division. If each can spar and be taught from each other, they could each come again to problem for the title sooner reasonably than later.
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For extra on the UFC, head to Newsweek Sports.
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James Brizuela is a contributing sports activities author positioned in Los Angeles. His focus is on the NFL and MMA. He has in-depth information of the NFL as a complete, having been a fan for over 30 years, and overlaying the game over the past six years. James joined Newsweek in March 2024, having beforehand written NFL content material for Sports activities Illustrated. He’s a graduate of the College of California, Riverside. You will get in contact with James by emailing, j.brizuela@newsweek.com. You’ll find him at X @james_brizuela.
James Brizuela
James Brizuela is a contributing sports activities author positioned in Los Angeles. His focus is on the NFL and MMA. He …
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