Israel Adesanya addresses training with Robert Whittaker, reveals if he would work with Alex Pereira

01/24/2025 09:00 AM

Israel Adesanya was happy to provide a true feel-good moment after posting photos and videos that showed him training alongside former opponent Robert Whittaker as he prepared for his upcoming fight against Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Saudi Arabia.

The former rivals clashed twice in the past with Adesanya winning both times but there was never really intense personal beef between them. So when Whittaker's coach suggested a shakeup in training, and reached out to City Kickboxing's Eugene Bareman to see if they were receptive to the idea, Adesanya gave him an emphatic response.

"I was excited. I said f*ck yeah, he can pull up anytime," Adesanya told MMA Fighting. "I didn't know what day he was coming so I saw him at the gym on a Monday. I was ecstatic. I was hyped. That was a moment for the MMA world, for us in general, just something to feel good about. Everyone liked this."

Of course, Adesanya is always surrounded by a lot of training partners including several UFC fighters to help him during his camps but adding Whittaker to the mix was a welcome surprise.

Adesanya also loved the fact that he was teaming up with another fighter from his side of the world rather than staying at odds with him as potential opponents.

"Having a guy with his skill set, his experience, a new body, new energy at this stage of your career, it's always nice," Adesanya said. "Like he said as well, not many people can understand what we've done to get to the point that we had. I was really excited to have him pull up and just share energy with me with the whole team."

"100 percent, Anzacs united. I'd rather build with him and build together and get the next generation ready to take on the world so we can still say Anzacs united."

As he prepares to take on another striker in Imavov at the UFC Saudi Arabia card, Adesanya admitted that Whittaker's input even in just the few days he spent there was invaluable.

"Of course, even if he didn't train with me, having him around would have been beneficial to this camp," Adesanya said. "Because of the energy he brings.

"But training with him, hanging out with him, moving with him, definitely picked his brain and we just shared a few ideas, but I can't wait because I'll go over there and do the same thing and over the next few years, we'll be linking up a few more times."

Now that Adesanya and Whittaker have worked together, both fighters have stated publicly that there's virtually no chance they'd ever meet again in the octagon.

In fact, Adesanya now considers Whittaker a friend and teammate with hopes that this newfound relationship continues to flourish for years to come.

"Yeah, definitely for the foreseeable future, definitely [we'll continue working together]," Adesany said. "As it should because we're on this side of the world building. We've done so much for the game on this side of the world for Anzacs and together we are stronger.

"So I'd rather build with him and us get the next generation ready and take on the world together."

Considering that Whittaker was once a fierce rival and now he's become a friend, would Adesanya ever potentially approach another past opponent as a possible training partner or teammate?

Perhaps the most curious name on that list would be UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, who has battled Adesanya multiple times across MMA and kickboxing. They engaged in a two-fight series in the UFC that remains one of the most talked about rivalries in recent history.

While Adesanya says there's nothing necessarily in the works right now, he absolutely plans on seeking out Pereira one day in the future to work together.

In his mind, Adesanya says his rivalry with Pereira is already settled so why not combine forces to help each other but he probably won't make any plans for now because he has a teammate chasing the Brazilian for a potential title shot.

"Yeah definitely down the road," Adesanya said about working with Pereira. "Me and Alex, I've already said I got what I wanted from that fight. I think the MMA world just gets greedy and tries to ruin a good thing because they want more. Never knowing when to quit. That's why you shouldn't gamble.

"But yeah, eventually it will, but right now it's not that time. He lives so far away, the opportunity hasn't arisen. We still have guys like Carlos [Ulberg] in the trenches, working hard, getting ready for his next fight so he can become a No. 1 contender. I'll always respect 'Poatan.' He's a guy that we already understood this and we've already shared this with each other, so yeah, it will happen one day. Who knows when."