UFC boss Dana White is clear about one thing – the fight between Robert Whittaker and Israel Adesanya is signed, sealed, and delivered.
During the post-fight press conference for UFC 269, White was asked about the middleweight champion replying with an emoji of a cap to the official announcement of his re-match against Whittaker.
Nobody knows for sure what Adesanya meant by this, but White immediately laughed off suggestions that the fight hadn’t been completely locked in for February 2022.
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As the question was being asked, White turned to the UFC’s COO, Hunter Campbell, and asked him if the company had a signed contract to fight Whittaker.
“Yes,” was the reply.
“We have in writing that he is committed to fighting Whittaker,” Campbell said from off-screen.
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In a massive weekend of sport, Whittaker will square off with the Kiwi-Nigerian champ in Houston, the night before the NFL’s Super Bowl in Los Angeles.
“If you don’t want to fight Whittaker, then I guess we’ll find another fight – who gives a s–t?” White said, clearly agitated by the question.
It was explained to White that ‘cap’ meant you were lying.
“Why would we lie? When have we ever f—ing lied? This fight’s coming up, have we lied about it? 20 f—ing years have we ever lied about making a fight?
“Some fights are harder to make than others, but I don’t think we’ve ever lied about making a fight – and why would we lie about that fight?”
Whittaker will get his long-awaited chance to re-claim the title, losing it to Adesanya in a shock upset back in 2019 – it remains his only loss in 12 fights since moving weight classes in 2014.
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