Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker know each other very well having spent close to eight rounds in the UFC cage with one another. 

But while their rivalry was a fractious one when they duelled for the UFC’s middleweight title on two occasions, their acrimony has developed into a friendship after Whittaker visited Adesanya’s City Kickboxing gym in New Zealand in search of new bodies to train with — footage of which has appeared online.

“It was just organic,” Adesanya said to MMA Junkie (via Stake) of their accord. “His coach hit up my coach, and Eugene (Bareman) asked me. I was like, ‘Of course — he can pull up any time.’ I didn’t know he was pulling up on that Monday, so when I saw him, I was excited. I was hyped. It’s always good to have someone like Rob, the calibre of him around the gym.

“Definitely you can feel his energy in the room, even though he’s just a chill guy. It was nice to exchange with him, and sit down with him, break bread with him, have him come for the breakdown. It was cool. I respect Rob tremendously, and I like him a whole lot more.”

In footage of their spar, as well as an appearance on Adesanya’s sofa to break down last weekend’s UFC 311 fight card, the two appeared to be get on very well — something ‘Stylebender’ said he assumed would be the case, even when they were at the height of their rivalry.

“Yeah, the tension was high, but we always knew we’d get along,” he said. “We’re just two chill guys. But yeah, that’s funny.”

Adesanya will look to rebound from successive losses to Dricus du Plessis and Sean Strickland when he fights the 15-4 Nassourdine Imavov on February 1 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.