Robert Whittaker talks Jake Paul, UFC middleweight title picture.
Robert Whittaker believes he should be next in line for a title shot and has told Marvin Vettori to wait his turn following the latter’s callout of reigning UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.
Vettori called out Adesanya following his workmanlike win over Kevin Holland earlier this month but Whittaker is fresh off a dominant decision victory over Kelvin Gastelum and believes he possesses the superior resume.
“I’ve fought nothing but No. 1 contenders,” Whittaker, who’s beat Gastelum, Cannonier and Till since losing the middleweight title to Adesanya, told reporters at the UFC Vegas 24 post-fight press conference (h/t MMA Fighting). “I’ve already ran the gauntlet. Everybody that had a title shot if they beat me, I beat. That’s it.
“I like Marvin, I guess. He’s alright. But I think there’s fights he still needs to make. I don’t think he’s fought the top three dudes, the top five dudes, really. But he can wait his turn. Let me have my fight, and then he can fight the winner of that. Relax.”
The former UFC middleweight champ then went on to credit Jake Paul for his viral KO of Ben Askren at Triller Fight Club, but said the result was to be expected.
“Well, just nobody saw that coming,” Whittaker said with a laugh. “Ben Askren is not known for his boxing, is he? But good on [Paul]. He’s doing his thing. Keep doing your thing.”
Whittaker also can’t fault Askren for accepting the fight despite suffering one of the worst defeats of his combat sports career.
“Yeah, I’d fight him for less,” he joked.
Whittaker has called for a rematch with Adesanya at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium in September.
“I think the borders in New Zealand are the best they’ve ever been, so September, I think we can get a packed out stadium there and once again pump the industry down there and MMA as a whole”.