MELBOURNE, Australia – For Israel Adesanya, UFC 243 is not just about the belt.
Interim UFC middleweight titleholder Adesanya (17-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) meets middleweight champ Robert Whittaker (20-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC) in the main event of UFC 243, which takes place Saturday (Sunday locally) at Marvel Stadium. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN2 and UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.
At Thursday’s open workout session ahead of the event, “The Last Stylebender” said the focus is more on the type of opponent he’s getting in the cage with rather than what’s on the line with a win.
“Look, (expletive) the belt,” Adesanya said. “For me, the real gold is beating him because he’s a warrior, he’s got that Maori blood in him. He’s not the first Maori I fought, trust me. So Sunday, Oct. 6, if you don’t have your tickets, don’t steal, don’t do nothing crazy. Just make sure you get your tickets because trust me, we’re going to blow that place up.”
For the young man who was once in the nosebleeds of the same venue during UFC 193 in 2015, when Holly Holm shocked the world by dethroning then bantamweight queen Ronda Rousey, UFC 234 is everything he envisioned. Adesanya is now the main event of what could potentially be the largest crowd in UFC history.
And he plans on having his own historic moment by taking out Whittaker.
“If you’ve been following me for a long time, everything I’ve done, I’ve been calling it,” Adesanya said. “And even at UFC 193, right here, back when it was Etihad Stadium, I remember walking the streets and tweeting, ‘If you see Dana, just mention me, drop my name,’ and now here we are.
“I’m about to headline the whole place and shock the world again.”
