Robert Whittaker acknowledges that his career it at a crossroads.
Usually, that phrase has a negative connotation – but not so here, with the Australian’s future looking bright. The only question is whether it’s at middleweight, where he was previously the world champion, or moving up a weight class.
For now, he’ll be staying at 84kg, with a fight against Marvin Vettori confirmed today for UFC 275, in Singapore, on June 12.
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Both men are in similar boats – suffering decision losses to Israel Adesanya in title matches in the past year, and both eager to return to the top of the bill.
“It is a tricky position to be in, for me and Marvin,” Whittaker told Wide World Of Sports.
“The only goal for either of us, really, is to get back at that title shot with Adesanya.
“He’s the only guy I haven’t fought yet so it’s just logical to make this fight happen, and it definitely looks good for either one of us to come away with the win.”
Vettori is no slouch himself – his only defeats in his last 10 fights both coming at the hands of Adesanya.
“He’s a tough cookie,” Whittaker said of the Italian.
“He’s very tough, he’s resilient and he’s got cardio for days – he’s well rounded. Those sort of traits altogether make for a very dangerous opponent.
“I’ll be going into this fight with the respect it deserves and as I’ve done in every other fight, absolute seriousness.”
Whittaker received plenty of praise for his narrow loss against Adesanya, a far better performance than when they met back in 2019, and he was knocked out by the Kiwi, who has held the title ever since.
“I was happy with a lot of things from the fight, and not happy with some things – but what can you do? I lost. It is what it is,” he said.
“I gave a good showing of myself to the point where everyone else was complimenting me for my performance, but you’ve just got to move on.”
He’ll have two and a half months to prepare – with a healthy diet of gym work and video games making up the bulk of his time between now and then.
“Training and games, and obviously my family – there’s not enough time to fit anything else in,” he said.
Known for being a keen gamer, how much time had the 29-year-old plunged into Elden Ring, arguably the biggest game release in several years?
Whittaker quickly glances at his monitor before replying; “134 hours.”
“The game is so bloody big – there’s just so much to do! I’ve had to put it down now because I’m well and truly burnt out but I’m not finished,” he said.
“There’s probably like 100 bosses I don’t even know exist yet.”
“It is a little annoying how every bloke and their mate is playing, I hate being on that mainstream wave, but it’s a bloody good game.”
He also said he was stoked to have a three-round, rather than a five-round fight for once.
“It changes everything – I wouldn’t have taken this fight if it was five rounds. I’m so over fighting five rounds.
“To be able to fight three rounds, I’m stoked, I’m over the moon – everything was just lining up to take this fight and when good fortune favours you like this, you’ve got to go for it.”
Whittaker said he’ll have to see what the future holds in terms of his long-term plans in the sport, but the thought of going back to light heavy weight is still lingering in the back of his mind.
“I haven’t gone that far down the train of thought yet,” he said.
“It’s just something I’m tossing around in my head – if I go up, then it’s a serious thing for me so I plan to stay there, sort of thing.
“When I make the move up I’m going to stay there, most likely. Finish my career there. So the change can’t be half-hearted, it’s not going to be a half-assed sort of thing.”
“It’s going to be a full committed sort of process. Because it’s such a big thing, such a big change, I’ll worry about that when the time comes.”
There are plenty of reasons for moving up a weight class – running out of opponents to fight in their current division, a disdain for cutting weight, or the desire for new challenges.
For Whittaker, it’s all three.
“I am a bigger guy so I cut a lot to make middleweight and I lose a lot of power doing that – I think I’m maybe better at light-heavyweight, I’d have me power, I’d keep my speed, there’s slower guys up there. I don’t know, I may not do it – it’s an idea I’m playing with.”