“We would have crossed that bridge when we got there,” Robert Whittaker smirked when asked whether he and his team had contingencies in place in case things didn’t exactly go according to plan.
‘The Reaper’ surprised everyone in the UFC community, perhaps even including himself, when he travelled over to New Zealand to train with former nemisis Israel Adesanaya earlier this year.
The two had shared the Octogon on two ocassions in the past, with ‘The Last Stylebender’ famously dethroning Whittaker at UFC 243 via a second-round knockout.
MORE: Robert Whittaker eyeing title shot, but first will do battle against Reinier de Ridder at UFC Abu Dhabi
The duo locked horns again inside the cage three years later where Adesanya once again came out on top via the scorecards.
However, that history was put firmly behind them when Whittaker rocked up to City Kickboxing, the home base of Adesanya in Auckland, with the duo put through their paces together while also getting to know each other outside of the gym.
Robert Whittaker opens up on unexpected Israel Adesanya link-up
“He’s very welcoming and open to everything,” Whittaker told The Sporting News as he prepares to face off against rising contender Reinier de Ridder at UFC Fight Night: Abu Dhabi.
“I guess, because we were rivals for so long, we kind of know each other the best. It’s weird.”
The brief stop over came at the perfect time to re-energise both the perennial middleweight title candidate and Adesanya, who is in the midst of an uncharacterstically lean trot.
“We wanted to see if it clicked and see how it all goes,” Whittaker said.
“It was mostly work-orientated. We weren’t there for long, it was just to test the air.”
And the two veterans, who have spilt blood across six-plus championship rounds and exchanged in one or two heated verbal back and forths during their rivalry, were unequivical in their praise of each other.
“He was an old homie,” Adesanya told ESPN at the time.
“I knew he was coming through, but I didn’t know what day he was coming, so when I saw him I got hyped, I got excited, I screamed.
“It was like seeing an old friend, it wasn’t awkward or anything for me, it was just natural. We’re cool. We’re just a couple of chill guys.”
As for whether they could join forces again further down the line, Whittaker refused to rule out the prospect as the chances of a trilogy fight between the pair seems to be all but over due to their newfound friendship.
“I can see it happening again,” the 34-year-old said. “But it depends on the camp, who we’re fighting and what’s going on.”
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