Robert Whittaker may not be the UFC middleweight champion, but he nonetheless believes he’s the most dangerous 185-pound fighter on the planet.
Whittaker delivered another impressive performance at UFC Paris. He outclassed Marvin Vettori and won a unanimous decision. He was crowned the world’s No. 2 middleweight in the world and, according to the former champion, showed that he is superior to champion Israel Adesanya in some respects.
” I’m the most danger man in this division,” Whittaker stated at the postfight press conference . “Israel’s the champ. I was defeated twice by him, so hats off. He’s a great fighter, he really is. Although he is a good fighter stylistically, I believe he is the best in his division. However, I am still the most dangerous because I always win. People hate to fight because I am a winner. Because that is what I do, I fight for them. I get in there and I get to work.”
Whittaker has lost twice to Adensanya, most recently coming up short in a rematch at UFC 271 this past February. These two defeats put Bobby Knuckles in an awkward position within the division. A third bout is unlikely to happen soon.
Whittaker maintains that if and when a trilogy bout happens, it will go different than their first two encounters, and his win over Vettori proves it.
“He beat me in the first, and the second was close enough that I don’t feel too bad about it. But, on another day, it might have been my win,” Whittaker stated. “Mentally, that’s massive. It’s very hard to explain how it feels to get knocked out and lose your belt like that. It’s awful. There’s a bit of a learning process afterward, a bit of a picking the pieces up process, and doubts and whatnot. I conquered most of them before that second fight, and in that second fight, I conquered the rest of them, and I think you could see that in this fight today.”
Whittaker may not have to fight his way back to a third Adesanya fight, though. UFC 281, will see the champion middleweight fight against Alex Pereira. Many believe Pereira could become a champion in the near future, having already defeated Adesanya twice in kickboxing. Whittaker, however, is not certain that he will step in for Pereira if that happens.
“[Adesanya] “He’s very good.” Whittaker stated. I think his style is very effective. He’s an excellent defensive fighter. He’s got the eyes, the head for it. He excels at his job. He is able to avoid any danger, which makes it difficult to dethrone him, particularly if you get to the points. It’s difficult to dethrone him.
“I think Pereira is interesting, because they’ve fought before, and the small gloves add some element that’s different from their kickboxing fights. Pereira is huge. He’s got the range and the reach, and he’s very offensive with it, so we’re going to see that. They’re still wearing gloves. In the kickboxing match, he hit him. Small gloves change things. It happens every night. The little gloves are used to fight
If Pereira is unable to dethrone Adesanya, that means Whittaker is likely still some ways off of a middleweight title shot, and that’s OK with the former champion. With an event in Australia in the works for early next year, Whittaker is more than happy to continue his climb back to the belt with a fight on home soil.
“I hear there’s rumors of an Australia card, and I would love to fight in my backyard,” Whittaker said. “I think that’s the next move for me. Concerning who I am fighting, it’s progress. I am determined to move forward. So I am still hunting for that golden, and I will always be looking around to destroy anyone in my path until I can grab that gold .”
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