Robert Whittaker discusses what’s next after his victory over Marvin Vettori at UFC Paris.
Robert Whittaker might be 0-2 against the champ, but he still believes he can retake the middleweight throne and reclaim his title.
Whittaker turned in an impressive performance against Marvin Vettori in Saturday’s UFC Paris co-main event, beating ‘The Italian Dream’ via unanimous decision.
‘The Reaper’ isn’t sure what’s next but he has promised to continue destroying whoever the UFC puts in front of him until he gets another crack at the gold and a chance to avenge his losses to Israel Adesanya, the reigning king.
“I’m a fiend for progress,” Whittaker said at the UFC Paris post-fight press conference (h/t MMA Junkie). “I want to move forward. I’m hunting that gold still. So I’m always going to lurking around, just destroying who they put in front of me until I get a chance to gobble up that gold.”
He continued: “I’m the most dangerous man in the division. Israel’s the champ. He beat me twice. Hat’s off to him for that. He’s a great fighter, he really is. And I think stylistically he’s a great fighter. I still think I’m the most dangerous man in the division because I win. I win a lot, and I make people hate fighting and I take the fight out of them. That’s what I do. I get in there and I get to work.”
“He knocked me out the first one then the second one was a really close decision. I’m not butt hurt about it, but on another day it could’ve been my win. Mentally that’s massive. It’s very hard to explain how it feels to get knocked out and lose your belt like that. It sucks. There’s a bit of a learning process afterwards. A picking-up-of-the-pieces process. I conquered most of them.”
Whittaker would like his next fight to be in Australia, with the UFC expected to return Down Under in early 2023.
“I hear there’s rumors of an Australia card,” he said. “I would love to fight in my backyard. I think that’s the next move for me.”
Whittaker is 4-1 in his last five fights, with his lone defeat coming to Adesanya at UFC 271. As of writing, he is #1 in the UFC middleweight rankings.