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Quote: Robert Whittaker May Not Be The Same After Yoel Romero Wars

Will Robert Whittaker bounce back from his wars with Yoel Romero?

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Following two grueling wars with Yoel Romero, Robert Whittaker will defend his UFC middleweight championship against Kelvin Gastelum after the two coach The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 28.

Gastelum recently discussed Whittaker’s current state during a media scrum (via MMA Fighting), noting that there’s a good chance the champion may not be the same after two back-and-forth brawls with one of MMA’s heaviest hitters:

“I don’t know if he’s going to be the same fighter after these fights. These wars that he’s been in, it takes a toll on the body, so we’ll see how he comes out after this hand surgery.”

Although “Bobby Knuckles” emerged victorious in both five-round fights, there’s no denying the damage he took in both fights, as he was sidelined for 11 months due to knee surgery after the first bout and will now get hand surgery before he returns to meet Gastelum.

We’ve seen fighters engage in brutal battles where, despite perhaps emerging victorious, they aren’t quite the same afterward. Robbie Lawler and Carlos Condit’s respective declines following their classic battle at UFC 196 comes to mind, as does Dan Henderson’s fall after his five-round classic with Shogun at UFC 139.

But Whittaker has far fewer miles on his tires compared to those longtime vets, so even though he’s required surgeries after his two bouts with Romero, he could also bounce back more than the older fighters who fell following similar contests.

What do you think? Will Whittaker bounce back strong to take out a surging young contender in Gastelum, or will he show the wear of the wars?

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Gastelum: Whittaker Might Not Be The Same After Romero Wars

Kelvin Gastelum will receive the next shot at the UFC’s middleweight championship. Gastelum will coach opposite 185-pound champion Robert Whittaker on the 28th season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF 28). After that, Whittaker will defend his middleweight throne against the former TUF winner. Whittaker won the UFC middleweight title by defeating Yoel Romero back at […]

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Breaking: Robert Whittaker & Kelvin Gastelum Set To Fight After Coaching TUF 28

Robert Whittaker has his next opponent set:

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Middleweight champion Robert Whittaker has his next opponent set.

Almost a month after he outlasted Yoel Romero in the main event of June 9’s UFC 225, it was revealed that “The Reaper” will coach the upcoming The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 28 opposite top contender Kelvin Gastelum during tonight’s (Fri., July 6, 2018) TUF 27 Finale from Paradise, Nevada.

Gastelum has won four of his last six fights, with his last win a closely-contested split decision over longtime veteran and former Strikeforce champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza in the co-main event of May 12’s UFC 224 from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He would have five wins in his last six fights if his TKO win over Vitor Belfort in March 2017 had not been overturned due to Gastelum testing positive for *********.

The lone blemish on his record in that span is a submission loss to former champion Chris Weidman last July. There was talk, especially from Whittaker’s manager, that Weidman would be the next challenger for the belt, but with Weidman out of action since beating Gastelum and also losing his prior three fights to his win over the TUF 17 champ, the title shot was given to the much more active fighter.

Whittaker has won his last nine fights in a row, earning a well-deserved reputation as not only one of the most dangerous strikers in the UFC, but also one of its most iron-chinned as well after he was rocked by Romero on numerous occasions only to survive and win on sheer pace and volume at UFC 225.

The two will face off later this year, but an official date and venue has not been announced.

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Robert Whittaker vs. Kelvin Gastelum Reportedly In The Works

It looks like Kelvin Gastelum is the front-runner to challenge Robert Whittaker for the UFC middleweight title next. The question of who would be the next man up to challenge “The Reaper” for the 185-pound title involved two men – Gas…

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Rising Middleweight Calls Out ‘Cheating’ Yoel Romero: F**k That

One of the UFC’s fastest-rising stars thinks Yoel Romero is trying to cheat the system in a way.

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One of the UFC middleweight division’s fastest-rising future stars isn’t fond of top-ranked veteran Yoel Romero.

Set to meet Brad Tavares in the main event of Friday night’s (July 6, 2018) The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 27 Finale from the Pearl Theatre in Paradise, Nevada, touted Israel Adesanya spoke out against “The Soldier of God’s” recent failure to make weight to MMA Fighting, something that happened prior to his UFC 221 knockout of Luke Rockhold and his five-round war with Robert Whittaker at June 9’s UFC 225.

“The Last Stylebender” doesn’t agree with how Romero has repeatedly missed, and although it didn’t matter at UFC 225 because the fight ended up being amazing, it is a form of cheating the system according to Adesanya:

“Look at Romero in his last fight. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t really care in the end because it was such a good fight, but regardless of what happened I didn’t want Romero to win,” he said.

“F*ck that, the guy missed weight and it’s not even the first time he missed weight. And he’s been caught doing other stuff in the past too. I think there’s an element of gaming the system there, it’s almost cheating to be honest.”

Adesanya made his long-awaited UFC debut at March’s UFC 221 in Perth, Australia, so he witnessed Romero’s first weight miss of 2018 first hand. He claimed some sort of conspiracy theory was shrouding Romero’s weight cut at the event:

“I was there in Perth and I still don’t fully understand what happened, it’s a bit of a conspiracy theory. I can remember I saw him going into the sauna that time, but they were cleaning the sauna so he wasn’t able to go in to cut more weight.”

In his opinion, the conspiracy was that Romero gave up on cutting the final three pounds, instead choosing to not deplete himself while giving up part of his purse to earn a title shot versus Whittaker:

“Regardless of all that, the conspiracy theory is that Yoel Romero didn’t try to lose weight again after he weighed in the first time in Perth. Why would he deplete himself more by trying to lose that further three pounds? I think he just thought, ‘F*ck that, I’m going to win this fight. He can take my purse, but at the end of the day, I know I’m fighting for the world title.’”

Adesanya will face by far the biggest test of his UFC career when he meets Tavares this weekend. With a win, he should steamroll onto the Top 10 of the official rankings by defeating the No. 8 fighter, and the sky will be the limit for the undefeated kickboxing wiz.

From the looks of it, he’d like to get a shot at Romero soon thereafter.

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Robert Whittaker’s Manager Discusses Next Middleweight Title Contender

The UFC middleweight title picture certainly is an interesting one.

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The question remains – who will be the next challenger for Robert Whittaker’s UFC middleweight throne?

“Bobby Knuckles” edged out a hard-fought split decision over Yoel Romero at UFC 225 last month. Due to Romero missing weight, however, the bout was ruled a non-title fight, thus denying the Australian the first successful defense of his career. Romero has now lost back-to-back opportunities at 185-pound gold, so he won’t be getting another shot anytime soon.

Chris Weidman and Kelvin Gastelum currently sit at the top of the contender’s ladder, sparking a debate amongst the mixed martial arts (MMA) community as to who deserves it more. Weidman hasn’t competed since defeating Gastelum in July of last year via submission.

The only issue is that since that fight, Gastelum has picked up back-to-back wins while “The All American” has been sidelined with an injury.

Whittaker’s manager, Titus Day, recently spoke to The Daily Telegraph, and offered his thoughts on the matter. Day suggested Whittaker, who is recovering from a broken thumb sustained against Romero, could be ready to return to action by the end of the year in New York – and he thinks Weidman would be the perfect opponent:

“So Madison Square Garden is a possibility,” Day said. “Rob’s the middleweight champ and his last two fights have been wars. So if his hand heals up as quickly as we’re hoping, we would definitely push for him to compete at the greatest fight arena in the world. And Chris Weidman, as the former champ, would be a perfect rival for that fight.

“I’ve spoken to Rob this week and he definitely wants to be ready by the end of the year. His surgery went well, it was a clean break which is the best you can get, and there doesn’t seem to have been any complications. So if all goes well, we’ll definitely look at that New York card. It’s traditionally one of the biggest on the UFC calendar and after the way Rob has won his last two fights over in the States, there is huge interest in him now.”

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