If Robert Whittaker wanted bulletin board material, there's been plenty.

Heading into a weekend battle with Whittaker for UFC middleweight supremacy, top-ranked challenger Israel Adesanya has been anything but shy when it comes to expressing full-on disrespect.

He told listeners on a recent UFC conference call that the 185-pound titleholder's style is one he'll "pick apart easily," and he wasn't at all hesitant to revel in the perceived bad blood between himself and No. 2 contender Paulo Costa that could create fan-friendly buzz for a subsequent showdown.

Given that, you might think Whittaker is whipped into an octagonal-shaped frenzy.

You'd think wrong.

Rather than frothing at the mouth to get at his regional rival—after all, Whittaker is a resident Australian while Adesanya lives in nearby New Zealand—the weight-class king prefers an icy calm detachment when it comes to his chatty rival and their main event date at UFC 243.

They'll face off before some 50,000 fans at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Australia.

Still, the champion will focus on nearly anything but Adesanya until the cage door clicks behind them.

"I try not to think about it at all. That's just me," he told Bleacher Report.

"I try not to let myself obsess over it. It's coming. And I'll save it for that day. Come fight day, that's generally all I'm thinking about. This is just another one. We're breaking records, which I'm very happy about. It's going to be huge for the sport in this region. But for me, it's just another fight.

"This last part is just about getting into the right mental space to get to work. It's about mentally zoning in and just feeling good."

It'll be Whittaker's first fight since consecutive five-rounders against Yoel Romero—both decision wins—in July 2017 and June 2018. An abdominal hernia scrubbed a UFC 234 title defense in February against Kelvin Gastelum, who went on to drop a decision nod to Adesanya in April.

Previously, Whittaker had missed time with a bum knee, chickenpox and a staph infection.

Adesanya implied on the conference call that Whittaker's health issues were a sign of something other than optimum fitness, and he told Submission Radio he'll get a bigger paycheck this weekend because he's sold the event while the champion has been "pulling out sick."

The Aussie's incendiary needle, however, stays stuck at zero.

"He says a lot of things about me. So it's hard to pick one," Whittaker said.

"Good for him. There are a lot of people that make more money than me. I'm just being me. I am who I am. I don't know, maybe my style is not special and I'm just good at using it. If it's not that special, I'm doing pretty well. I don't really get into the trash talk too much and I never make it personal, ever.

"I look forward to this fight. Trust me. I'm very hungry to get in there and do my thing. I didn't want to sit out for this long, but it is what it is. I can't wait to get back in there and get back to work."

The primary task against Adesanya will be getting close to an opponent who possesses significant advantages in both height (6'4" to 6'0") and reach (80 inches to 73½), not to mention a striking mixed martial arts record with 13 knockout wins—more than half thanks to punches.

Whittaker's perceived strength is his ground game, thanks to extensive work in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and wrestling. But he feels hand-to-hand combat could be just as effective this time around, thanks to the successes Gastelum, an even smaller man, had in his match with Adesanya at UFC 236 in Atlanta.

Gastelum, who stands 5'9" with a 71½-inch reach, landed double-digit strikes in all five rounds and finished with a 41 percent overall connect rate—including nearly 70 shots to Adesanya's head.

Whittaker, in 25 fights, has landed 40 percent of his strike attempts while evading 61 percent. He's recorded nine KOs in 21 career wins, with another five from submissions.

"Obviously, I do my research. My coaches do the research," he said.

"We manipulate the training to suit our opponent. My biggest thing is I'm just going to go in there and do my thing. I think I can lay hands on him. Gastelum could, so I think I can."

Oddsmakers at Caesars consider it a close contest for betting purposes, labeling Whittaker a minus-105 pick while Adesanya is a minus-125 proposition.

The champion, though, boils it down a bit more simply.

"If I'm already home after the first round, that'll be a good indicator," he said. "I'm just going to put hands on him. I'm going to try to touch him up. If you see his face all beaten up, then you'll know I'm in a good spot."