Robert Whittaker still intends on making an impact at 185-pounds before he hangs up his gloves — but it won’t come in the shape of a trilogy fight with Israel Adesanya.

The two UFC veterans know each other well, having combined for more than seven rounds across two separate middleweight title fights in 2019 and 2022. But while the prospect of a third fight with Adesanya was long an aspiration of Whittaker’s after losing both of the first two, the ‘Reaper’ says that is now out of the question after they mended fences in the training room.

In a recent video posted online, Whittaker explained how it came to be that he joined Adesanya at the famed City Kickboxing gym and explained how their past rivalry transitioned towards friendship as a result.

“It’s a funny world, honestly,” Whittaker told Fox Sports, as noted by Bloody Elbow. “If you would’ve asked me a few years ago if I ever seen this coming, the answer would’ve been, ‘Not in 100 years’.

“I guess where we were with the team back home, one of my training partners got injured, a couple of the boys were tired and had other commitments they wanted to focus on.

“I sat down with the team, and Alex [Prates] was like, ‘We need some bodies. How are we gonna get them?’ We started looking global. I think I’m fortunate enough to be able to train in most places and get along with most people.

“We started looking around and then like a lightening bold we realised, ‘Mate, City Kickboxing is only a 2.5-hour flight away and they’ve got the bodies’.

“It’s New Zealand, the place of my birth. Everything just started lining up, right? So, Alex reached out to Eugene [Bareman] and had a conversation. Me, Alex, and a couple of training partners came over here to test the waters to see if we get along, and we are getting along.”

But despite the convenience, Whittaker admitted that there was a level of apprehension at sharing space with Adesanya.

“I don’t know if I hated him, but I’m pretty sure that 10 years ago I would’ve hit him with my car if I could have,” he said. “It was that sort of relationship. It’s funny, I just left his house. I was sitting on the couch with him working on his YouTube stuff.

“I’m still kind of reeling. It’s a funny world. You’ve got to be open to his stuff and have an open mind to be able to work through that so everyone can get better. I think it’s a good path to growth.

“We get along. Even when I was just chilling with him before, and talking with him, you can see a lot of the common interests make that really easy.”

And now with an accord established with his former rival, Whittaker says that their acrimony is over.

“I think we can close that door,” he said. “I don’t think the chances were high just because of where we are situated in our careers, and the division as a whole.

“Yeah, that door is shut. I don’t fight people I eat with.”