Time, it turns out, really can heal old wounds.
Some of MMA’s fiercest rivals are now proving that even the most bitter feuds can eventually give way to a bit of respect.
And sometimes, in rare cases, even becoming “besties”.
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Not all that long ago, Israel Adesanya, 36, and Robert Whittaker, 35, were locked in one of the UFC’s ugliest rivalries.
Now, they are sharing the mats together at City Kickboxing as ‘Bobby Knuckles’ makes his move to light heavyweight and Izzy gears up for his next bout.
Their rivalry dominated the middleweight division for what felt like years, beginning shortly before Adesanya knocked out Whittaker to unify the belts at UFC 243 in front of a record crowd in Melbourne.
The pair would later run it back at UFC 271 in Texas, where Adesanya again got the better of the Aussie.
To sum up their relationship at the time, Whittaker told Main Event’s Fight Week: “I don’t know if I hated him, but I’m pretty sure 10 years ago I would have tried hitting him with my car if I could have”.
The relationship between the pair finally began to thaw in January last year, when they buried the hatchet during Whittaker’s visit to CKB in Auckland.
“When I was walking into his house, I sat on his couch and he asked me if I wanted anything to eat and I’m just thinking ‘where am I right now, how did we get here?’ It was surreal,” Whittaker said.
“Australia and New Zealand is us versus everybody – but we kind of like being rivals as well and that kind of set the scene.
“It was good to finally hash that out.”
This week’s training sesh felt like the natural next step.
Adesanya posted a clip of the pair laughing and training together – a million miles from the tension that used to surround their interactions.
“My bestie in town!” he captioned the video.
“IYKYK [If you know, you know], a man that has forced the best outta me can push me in the training room even with a few words. LEGEND!”
The clip sparked widespread joy across the MMA world, with MMA reporter Helen Yee responding “Love this!” while the post racked up more than 81,000 likes from fans.
Speaking to Fox Sports Australia earlier this month, Whittaker said that training at CKB was something he’d planned to prepare for his move up to light heavyweight.
Bigger bodies like Carlos Ulberg, Navajo Stirling, Brando Pericic and Tyson Pedro – just to name a few – provide plenty of physical rounds for the former middleweight champ.
“I don’t want to go into my next fight as a fat middleweight!” he joked. “I still need to be lean, still need to eat the right food. I just get to have a little bit more of it, which will help with my recovery and my lifestyle.”
“It takes me a long while to get down to middleweight,” he reveals. “I walk around at about 105kg, day to day, which is still a decent amount above the light-heavyweight limit [of 93kg].”
“The plan is probably to head over to City Kickboxing [in Auckland] for a stint, where I can move around with different bodies and bigger guys. But it’s going to be very hard work.”
Whittaker has said in the past that the tension came from his fighter mentality, refusing to allow himself to have any positive feelings towards middleweight rivals.
“But because he was on the other side of the fence for so long, it was just… I don’t like any middleweight really because I like having that mindset of it’s them against us,” he said.
“Because he was on the other side of the fence for so long, it was always a part of that rivalry there.”
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So could the pair ever fight again in a trilogy bout?
“I think we can close that door, I don’t think the chances were high because of where we are both situated in our careers, but that door is shut. I don’t fight people I eat with,” he said.
ANOTHER PAIR OF OLD FOES BREAK BREAD
Another of the UFC’s most infamous rivalries has also come to a happy end, with Ben Askren and Jorge Masvidal finally mending fences.
The pair shared an explosive feud ahead of their showdown at UFC 239 in 2019.
‘Gamebred’ delivered one of the most iconic moments in MMA history, starching Askren with a five-second flying knee KO – a finish that, seven years later, still stands as the fastest.
The tension went on for years afterwards, with the pair continuing to trade shots in interviews and on social media.
But the rivalry finally cooled off in 2025 when Askren suffered a near-death health scare that required a double-lung transplant.
“Well, I suppose I learned last summer that life is short, definitely too short for holding grudges,” Askren posted to X alongside a photo of him and Masvidal.
“So when @GamebredFighter said he wanted to sit down and break bread, of course, I took him up on it.
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“Today, he came to Wisconsin, sat down, had some dinner, and chatted it up. Turns out we have more in common than different.
“Felt great to bury the hatchet and make a new friend. Life is too short to hold grudges, bury hatchets, and move on with your life. So glad Jorge was able to come to Wisconsin today.”