Robert Whiteford On His UFC Release: “F*ck, What Can You Do? Life Goes On”

While he was respectful in his public tweet regarding his recent UFC release, Robert Whiteford opened up while speaking with veteran MMA journalist Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of “The MMA Hour” at MMAFighting.com.

Whiteford wrote the following…

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While he was respectful in his public tweet regarding his recent UFC release, Robert Whiteford opened up while speaking with veteran MMA journalist Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of “The MMA Hour” at MMAFighting.com.

Whiteford wrote the following on social media shortly after his UFC release became public this past Saturday.

“Released [from the] UFC this morning. Truly grateful for the opportunities [and] memories. It was a blast.”

On Monday’s edition of “The MMA Hour,” Whiteford spoke at length about his UFC departure.

“Ah, sh*t happens, doesn’t it,” said Whiteford. “F*ck, what can you do? Life goes on.”

Whiteford continued, “Very surprised, but are you ever surprised with anything UFC does these days? Not really. But really, they do strange things, day in, day out, whether it’s for good or for bad. You take everything with a pinch of salt with the UFC. That’s the way I look at it.”

“I was away for the weekend with my girlfriend,” said Whiteford. “She booked it for my birthday. My manager phone called me on Saturday morning whilst I was away for the weekend. I couldn’t believe it. I felt like ringing his neck,” he admitted. “The main reason is I’ve lost two in a row. You can’t really argue with that,” he continued. “There’s a lot of people been cut for two in a row and there’s been people cut for less than two fights in a row. You can’t really grumble with it.”

When talking about his most recent performance inside the Octagon, Whiteford admitted he has had better days.

“My last fight was sh*t, top to bottom,” Whiteford said. “As I said before, some times it’s just not your night to fight. I made that walkout to the Octagon. My ‘Flower of Scotland’ traditional homecoming music, it cut short. I entered the Octagon. Bruce Buffer announced my name, it cut out short. Things just weren’t adding up. Some times it just doesn’t go your way. I got f–ked over by a judge who scored it 30-27 Martins. I don’t know what planet he was on. Maybe he was trying some of the Amsterdam local brew. But I believe that things happen for a reason in this world. When bad luck comes, it usually comes in threes. That judge was just my third bad luck on the night.”

Video: Robert Whiteford Featured In UFC On The Fly For UFN 86

This coming Sunday, Robert Whiteford meets Lucas Martins in the featured UFC Fight Pass bout for UFC Fight Night 86.

Whiteford was chronicled on the first episode of “On the Fly,” a reality series that follows fighters as they prepare for battle.

UFC-Fight-Night-86-500x400

This coming Sunday, Robert Whiteford meets Lucas Martins in the featured UFC Fight Pass bout for UFC Fight Night 86.

Whiteford was chronicled on the first episode of “On the Fly,” a reality series that follows fighters as they prepare for battle.

Check out the episode in the video below:

Meet Robert Whiteford, The UFC’s First Scottish Fighter in Promotional History

(Whiteford vs. Carl Fawcett, Supremacy Fight Challenge 6.)

Given their proclivity for turning soccer games into full scale, fight-for-your-life riots, you’d think the UFC’s roster would be packed to the brim with Scottish fighters by now. But you being you, would be wrong. While there’s a certain Irish phenom that’s been making a name for himself in the promotion lately, it turns out that the UFC has *never* signed a Scottish fighter. Ever.

(*movie trailer voice*) That is…until now.

BloodyElbow passes along the news that 10-1 Scottish up-and-comer Robert Whiteford has recently signed with the UFC, marking the most monumental occasion for the Scottish people since the release of Braveheart. That’s the good news. The bad news is that Whiteford will be debuting against submission savant Jimy Hettes. Oh, and he’ll also be stepping in as a last-second replacement for the injured Mike Wilkinson at this weekend’s “Fight Night 30” event. Oh, and he’ll also be fighting on the Facebook prelims. In other words…


(Whiteford vs. Carl Fawcett, Supremacy Fight Challenge 6.)

Given their proclivity for turning soccer games into full scale, fight-for-your-life riots, you’d think the UFC’s roster would be packed to the brim with Scottish fighters by now. But you being you, would be wrong. While there’s a certain Irish phenom that’s been making a name for himself in the promotion lately, it turns out that the UFC has *never* signed a Scottish fighter. Ever.

(*movie trailer voice*) That is…until now.

BloodyElbow passes along the news that 10-1 Scottish up-and-comer Robert Whiteford has recently signed with the UFC, marking the most monumental occasion for the Scottish people since the release of Braveheart. That’s the good news. The bad news is that Whiteford will be debuting against submission savant Jimy Hettes. Oh, and he’ll also be stepping in as a last-second replacement for the injured Mike Wilkinson at this weekend’s “Fight Night 30″ event. Oh, and he’ll also be fighting on the Facebook prelims. In other words…

Although the majority of Whiteford’s wins have come over journeymen at best and tomato cans at worst, at 5’10, he should hold a reach and size advantage over most if not all of the featherweight division. Having not lost a fight since his professional debut in 2009, Whiteford’s confidence, as well as the “nothing to lose” mentality a last minute fight can breed, should hopefully work to his advantage against a certified beast Like Hettes. Of course, Whiteford also has the luck of facing a Jimy Hettes who has been battling injuries ever since suffering the first defeat of his career to Marcus Brimage back in September of 2012. So maybe, just maybe this fight won’t be the one-sided slaughter that the bookies are predicting it will be.

We’ve thrown a video of Whiteford’s fight against Carl Fawcett from May of 2012 above. Let us know if it does anything to convince you that this man is Scotland’s answer to Conor McGregor, or at least someone who could walk away with his hand raised on Saturday.

J. Jones