Israel Adesanya Trains with Former Rival Robert Whittaker for UFC Comeback

• Israel Adesanya teams up with former rival Robert Whittaker to train for his UFC Saudi Arabia comeback against Nassourdine Imavov.
• UFC stars Alex Pereira, Laura Sanko, and others react to the unexpected partnership with enthusiasm.
• Whittaker backs Adesanya as the favorite for the upcoming middleweight clash.

Former two-time UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has teamed up with former rival Robert Whittaker to prepare for his comeback fight against Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Saudi Arabia next month.

Adesanya shared training footage featuring Whittaker on social media, captioning it “New year, new friends,” a surprising collaboration given their history. Adesanya previously defeated Whittaker twice—first to claim the middleweight title at UFC 243 in 2019 via a second-round knockout, and again in their 2022 rematch via unanimous decision.

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The unexpected partnership sparked reactions from UFC stars. Former champion Alex Pereira commented “Chama” (Brazilian slang for passion), while analyst Laura Sanko quipped, “Now we need a buddy cop movie.” Aljamain Sterling, a former bantamweight champion, and featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski also showed their support, writing “Love to see it!” and “F*****g love this lads!” respectively.

Whittaker, now aiding his former adversary, has expressed confidence in Adesanya’s abilities, considering him the favourite against Imavov in the upcoming bout.

“I’d have to lean into Izzy being the favourite. Like he’s so good at what he does,” Whittaker said on his YouTube channel.

“But Imavov’s a bit of a dog. He can go the distance. His striking is good. I can see him pushing the pace, pushing the pressure to try to make Adesanya make errors, much like how Dricus (Du Plessis) fought him.”

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The 35-year-old Israel Adesanya is set to return to the octagon for the first time since losing his title to Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 305 last August, following an earlier upset against Sean Strickland at UFC 293.

A win against fifth-ranked Nassourdine Imavov at the February 1 event could position Adesanya for another title shot or a top contender matchup.

Robert Whittaker, meanwhile, is also eyeing a comeback after a submission loss to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 308, which sidelined him with facial and jaw injuries.

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