Middleweight UFC champion Rob Whittaker says he's planning on fighting the winner of the interim title fight between Israel Adesanya and Kelvin Gastelum, but doesn't believe Adesanya is as good as he thinks he is.

Coming off his UFC 234 win over Anderson Silva, Adesanya will take on American Gastelum at UFC 236 on April 13 (April 14 in Australia and New Zealand).

Whittaker was scheduled to defend his 185-pound title against Gastelum at Rod Laver Arena, but was forced out on the morning of the bout.

Still recovering from emergency surgery on a collapsed bowel and internal hernia, Whittaker is already planning his comeback.

MORE: Adesanya to fight Gastelum for interim title | Jim Crute wants ranked opponent next

Speaking on the GrangeTV Podcast, Whittaker said he's planning on fighting either Adesanya or Gastelum.

"I’m looking to fight the winner of that," he said.

"In terms of timelines and dates, it will be a month - two or three months after that.

"One month minimum, three months maximum. That’s the kind of timeline I’m looking for."

Whittaker also questioned whether Adesanya is capable of living up to the hype.

"I think Adesanya isn't as good as he thinks he is," Whittaker said.

"I think he's very good - very, very good - and I have a lot of respect for his skillset, 100 per cent. He's a dangerous guy.

"But I don't think the pedestal that he's on is as high as everyone else thinks it is, and he thinks it is.

"I think his fight with Anderson Silva was the first time his stand-up capabilities were put to the test with someone with similar stand-up capabilities."

Expanding on that thought, Whittaker said striking in MMA is vastly different to Adesanya's kick-boxing background.

"The difference in striking in the Octagon as opposed to the ring is night and day," he said.

"Comparing the two isn't applicable. Yes, he can take a lot of the skillsets over and it's applicable, but it's not the same. It's not the same.

"Having very high technical skills in striking, isn't the same as being a very dangerous strker.

"If you were to look at Romero, he is not technically great at stand-up. He's not known for his technical grace - but most of his wins have been by knockout. He would have to be one of the most dangerous strikers in the world. But you can't say he's very technical.

"Adesanya is dangerous and technical, but he's not the same as Romero. He's not super, super dangerous.

"I don't think Adesanya's striking is as good as he thinks it is - it's very good, I'm not saying his striking is bad, it's very, very good - but I just don't think it's as good as he thinks it is.

"The times Adesanya's looked very good is against people that don't have the greatest striking."

Assuming a one month turnaround is too quick for Adesanya and Gastelum to fight again, Whittaker's plans place his comeback between mid-June and mid-July.

The UFC has a pay-per-view event scheduled for June 8 at the United Center in Chicago - the same venue he defeated Yoel Romero in a fight of the year contender in 2018.

Whittaker also gave his thoughts on the interim title fight between Adesanya and Gastelum.

“I guess Weidman would be filthy - Jacare and Wiedman are both free," he said.

“When you look at the poster it says Gastelum vs Adesanya, four versus five, but one, two, three aren’t in the equation.

“I think it’s a hard fight. Gastelum’s a great fight for him (Adesanya) to fight.

“I’d like to see him fight a Romero, Rockhold or Weidman. I think they’d give him a lot of trouble.

“Weidman and Adesanya haven’t had any common opponents, and Weidman has only lost to people much higher than anyone Adesanya’s beaten. If we were on Robbie’s rankings, it would be a very different story.”

Still adamant he could fight Gastelum until he was wheeled into surgery, Whittaker had a message for people criticising his pull out and perceived lack of activity.

"To all the naysayers who said I knew I was going to pull out…f--k you," he said.

"Why would I cut weight to pull out of a fight?

"Why wouldn’t I pull out before the weight cut? That doesn’t make sense. I don’t understand."

Asked who he'd rather fight, Whittaker opted for the Kiwi-Nigerian.

"You know I've never cared who I fight - literally the UFC threw me anyone who was on a win streak or who was the next prospect," he said.

"If I had to say, I'd like to fight Adesanya.

"One, he's been asking for it. And two, I like that fight, I like the way he fights.

"He's a distance fighter, he likes to utilise his striking, which agrees with me. I'm a distance fighter, but I close distance really fast and I hit very hard.

"I think I'd surprise him. It is what it is.

"In saying that, fighting Gastelum isn't bad, I put in a lot of work already for that guy."