Robert Whittaker admits that he let his emotions get the best of him in his first fight with Israel Adesanya at UFC 243.

Whittaker (23-5 MMA) and Adesanya (21-1 MMA) squared off for the promotions undisputed middleweight title in October of 2019, with ‘Stylebender’ emerging victorious by way of second round knockout.

Prior to their collision at UFC 243, Israel Adesanya attempted to utilize trash talk to get inside the head of Robert Whittaker. According to ‘The Reaper’, Izzy’s “sh*thead” comments worked and resulted in him feeling emotionally exhausted for their fight.

“Lets not talk too much about Israel because I think he’s a piece of sh-t,” Whittaker said in a recent interview on The Howie Games (h/t MMAMania). “He’s just a sh-t person. A sh-t person. Ah, a piece of sh-t is too rough. Too harsh. He’s a sh-thead. There that sounds better. He’s a sh-thead. I don’t like him, he doesn’t like me. Two cats from two different paths that don’t get along.”

“It did, because the last fight I was kind of very emotional,” Robert Whittaker admitted when asked if Israel Adesanya’s trash talk paid off. “I was in a bad place for the sport itself, for my career. I got a bit emotional in that fight because I don’t like him very much and on top of everything else that was going on. Lost my cool. I wasn’t really fighting like I should fight, like I normally fight. Props to him, he got in my head. I just think he’s a shithead.”

Robert Whittaker has gone 3-0 since his loss to ‘Stylebender’, scoring decision victories over perennial contenders Darren Till, Jared Cannonier and Kevlin Gastelum during that stretch.

Now on the cusp of a much deserved rematch with Israel Adesanya, Robert Whittaker is clearly confident that he will be able to make the correct adjustments needed to settle the score.