Roman Doritze made the callout calculated when he asked him to fight Robert Whitaker and Israel Adesanya following the unanimous decision victory over Marvin Bettori.
He specifically targeted Whittaker and Adesanya. Because despite being a former champion, both are separated from defeat and are aiming to get back on track in the division. He still doesn’t hear much from Adesanya, but he wasn’t amused by the way Doritze dismissed a potential fight with him when responding to a callout.
“I’m trying to join the top five guys, guys, cue,” Whittaker said of Dritze on his podcast. “I watched (a half round) and said, ‘Hey, I have nothing to gain from this’ and played Monster Hunter Wild. ”
Whitaker also criticized the rematch between Doritze and Bettori, calling it “the exact same as the first fight,” but did not expressly express his confrontation with the Georgian middleweight style.
“Funny. It’s very childish,” Doritze told MMA Fighting when he responded to Whitaker’s reaction. “The loser (to Khamzat Chimaev) is so easy, and someone who didn’t show the heart of a fighter, can say something like that he said after losing like that. That doesn’t make sense. You need to prove something different to speak that way. You can’t take his words seriously.
“If he doesn’t want to fight, he doesn’t want to fight, but just calm down, boy, and if you don’t want him, it’s fine, if he doesn’t want it.”
Whitaker definitely weighs a lot in the division, but he’s 3-3 in the last six fights, unlikely to be near another title shot after being finished by a loss of submission to champions Doricus Duplesis and Chimeyev.
That’s why Dritze doesn’t understand why Whittaker is trying to get so noisy about his enemy, especially now, with the opportunity to face fighters on solid winning streaks.
“Adesanya, either, these two guys, I didn’t ignore their achievements at MMA and what they did before, but now they’re downfall,” Dorze said. “Like Adesanya, he’s a very good guy. He was the dominant champion. I had nothing to him as a fighter, but I’m just calling them and that’s because I don’t think they’re the best.
“I called out these guys because that makes sense. They’ve both been on top of the division for a long time. They’re both out of the loss.”
Dolidze doesn’t know if Adesanya is watching his callout in the exact same way as Whittaker, but he admits he’s a bit annoyed by the stagnant middleweight division and the two biggest stars currently sitting on the bystander.
He acknowledges that Chimaev is almost certainly the next for Duplesis, but Nassoldin Imavov (the fighter who he fought with the decision of the close majority) is undoubtedly worthy of his own opportunity to fight for UFC Gold. But everyone else who occupy the spot near the top of the rankings should start looking for fresh and new challenges, and Drise believes he deserves such an opportunity.
“I think the Battle of Adesanya makes sense because he is quiet too,” Dritze said. “Who knows, he was thinking about it and the UFC might have offered him something. But I’m ready for the person they provide for the people they want to offer. Of course, as I told you, I told you, if they provide someone else to me, I’m not the one who makes sense to me for a career.”
“I’ve always wanted to fight Kamza (Chimeh), but Kamzat deserves to fight for the title. He’s fighting for the title. (Borralho), Strickland, Whittaker, Adesanya.
Also, Dritze scoffs at the idea that he doesn’t deserve Whitaker’s attention, and the same thing happens to Adesanya.
“We’re doing all this, that’s our job. Don’t be a liar,” Dritze said. “When I say we’re not doing this for the money, I look in their eyes and say I say you guys are liars.
“So all of this doesn’t make sense. I need to fight. They need to fight. If they think it’s so easy to fight me, I’ll fight me and make your money.”
In ideal circumstances, Dritze actually gets someone like Whittaker or Adesanya as their next opponent, both are worth the wait.
That being said, the 36-year-old veteran hasn’t tried to wait forever, and as long as he wants a top-ranked opponent or a former champion as his next opponent, Dolidze won’t turn down a chance when the UFC makes a call.
“New Roman, he’ll probably wait if something interesting,” Dritze said. “Of course, I’m a guy who loves to fight. I have so many short-term fights. I probably did a week notification, a week notification, a 10-day notification, a 10-day notification, a (Jack) Hermanson I was fighting for, a less than 14 kilos (about 30 pounds) in 10 days – that wasn’t easy.
“But if it makes sense to fight, if they offer some fights for my career, my future is better, maybe I’ll wait.