Former champion Robert Whittaker has left no doubt as to who should challenge Israel Adesanya for the UFC middleweight title.
'The Reaper' completely shut out American Kelvin Gastelum in the five-round main event of the latest UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas.
Whittaker's sole loss in his last 14 fights was to Adesanya in Melbourne in 2019 when 'The Last Stylebender' claimed UFC gold via a second-round knockout.
But the Kiwi-born Australian has reeled off three straight wins against top ten contenders in Darren Till, Jared Cannonier and now Gastelum.
Whittaker won all five-round at the UFC Apex on Sunday, utilising his underrated wrestling game and always slick striking against the dangerous 29-year-old.
Speaking post-fight, Whittaker says his results speak and he deserves the rematch against the Nigerian-Kiwi.
"Nothing but respect for Izzy, he is a great fighter," Whittaker says.
"It's time we had a chat my friend, I deserve this fight and I'm pretty sure we could open the borders in Australia and sell out a big stadium for one of the biggest fights the division has ever seen later in the year"
Fellow contender Marvin Vettori was cage side for the bout and had hoped a Whittaker loss would be good enough for him to earn the shot, but he will have to wait his turn.
Adesanya was clearly impressed by Whittakers dominance, acknowledging his trans-Tasman foe on social media.
"Good job my son", Adesanya wrote.
Adesanya recently dropped a unanimous decision to light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz - the first loss of his career.
