Former two-time UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has enlisted the help of former rival Robert Whittaker in preparation for his comeback fight against Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Saudi Arabia next month.
The Nigerian-born fighter shared training footage with Whittaker on social media, captioning it “New year, new friends,” despite their previous rivalry which saw Adesanya claim victories in both their encounters.
The surprising partnership drew reactions from several UFC stars, with former champion Alex Pereira commenting “Chama,” which translates to ‘passion’ in Brazil while analyst Laura Sanko added, “Now we need a buddy cop movie.”
Former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling and featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski also chimed in, writing “Love to see it!” and “F*****g love this lads!” respectively.
Whittaker, who lost his middleweight title to Adesanya via second-round knockout at UFC 243 in 2019 before dropping a unanimous decision in their 2022 rematch, believes his former rival remains the favourite against Imavov.
The 35-year-old Adesanya returns to the octagon for the first time since losing his title to Du Plessis at UFC 305 last August, which marked his second consecutive defeat following a stunning loss to Sean Strickland at UFC 293.
A victory over the fifth-ranked Imavov at the February 1 event could potentially earn Adesanya another title shot or at least a number one contender bout.
Meanwhile, Whittaker is also plotting his comeback after suffering a submission loss to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 308, which left him with facial and jaw injuries.
