Robert Whittaker News

Harry Kettle - February 3, 2026

Robert Whittaker is pretty confident that he’ll be making his way up to the light heavyweight division from middleweight. For a while now, Robert Whittaker’s mixed martial arts future has been up in the air. After years of being one of the most consistent middleweights out there, ‘The Reaper’ has suffered back to back defeats that have really knocked him down in the pecking order. Of course, this is Bobby Knuckles we’re talking about here, and he’s more resilient than most.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - January 25, 2026

Robert Whittaker isn’t as harsh on Paddy Pimblett’s UFC 324 performance as others are. Pimblett fought for an opportunity to lay claim to the interim UFC Lightweight Championship. A win for “The Baddy” would’ve set the stage for an undisputed title grudge match against Ilia Topuria. Pimblett needed to get past Justin Gaethje, but he did not succeed. Despite Pimblett’s efforts, “The Highlight” walked out of T-Mobile Arena with the interim gold.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - December 28, 2025

Robert Whittaker is considering a possible light heavyweight move, and he’s aware of the naysayers. Whittaker, a former UFC Middleweight Champion, recently turned 35 and he has said he doesn’t envision competing in MMA for much longer than another year. He has expressed interest in transitioning to the boxing world, so perhaps he has more years ahead in combat sports.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - December 22, 2025

Robert Whittaker is mulling over a potential run in the boxing world once he wraps up his time with UFC. Whittaker is a former UFC Middleweight Champion and while most would argue he’s no longer in his prime, “The Reaper” continues to be a tough out for most 185-pounders. Still, at the age of 35, Whittaker is closer to the end of his pro MMA run than ever before.

Cole Shelton - October 22, 2025

Robert Whittaker believes the time is now for him to fight Sean Strickland. Whittaker has wanted to fight Strickland for quite some time, and with both on the outside looking in for the title picture, the Aussie believes a battle of former champions makes sense. He also wants the fight to happen on the White House card, as he expects it to be a fan-friendly striking fight.

Dylan Bowker - September 22, 2025

Robert Whittaker is eyeing a return to the cage next year and looks to put himself in the position of partisan favorite against a fellow former UFC middleweight champion. The man known as Bobby Knuckles has recently referenced that he feels iced out of the UFC middleweight title scene after back-to-back losses to current champ Khamzat Chimaev and surging contender Reinier de Ridder. That being said, Sean Strickland is a relevant fighter in the division without a dance partner and is someone who is also interwoven into the UFC’s 185-pound titleholder history. Appearing on the MMArcade Podcast and indicating what he wants next for an in-cage competitive assignment, Whittaker said [via Sportskeeda],

Fernando Quiles Jr. - September 15, 2025

Robert Whittaker wasn’t thrilled seeing Kelvin Gastelum miss weight again. Gastelum shared the Octagon with Dustin Stoltzfus on the Noche UFC card this past Saturday. One day prior to the fight, Gastelum missed the middleweight limit by five pounds and was fined 35 percent of his fight purse. Gastelum ended up winning the fight via unanimous decision.

Dylan Bowker - September 12, 2025

Robert Whittaker is one of the most decorated mixed martial artists of this generation, but there was a time when he almost ventured into another martial art to compete against a prominent professional wrestler. The former UFC middleweight champion, at one point, qualified for the 2018 Commonwealth Games to participate in their freestyle wrestling event. Another notable figure who had also qualified for that field was professional wrestling star Joe Hendry, who called out the UFC combatant upon finding out he would be competing in his same weight category.

Dylan Bowker - September 2, 2025

A former UFC middleweight champion seems unsure about his path back to gold after his recent setback at UFC Abu Dhabi, but does still have competition-based motivations going forward. Robert Whittaker was the former champion in question, with the previous 185-pound titleholder expressing this thought during a recent interview with Submission Radio. The 34-year-old recently dropped a close split decision to former two-division ONE Championship titleholder Reinier de Ridder in July. At a time when the middleweight hierarchy is stacked like it hasn’t been in years, with looming high-stakes title eliminator-style bouts set up with RDR clashing with Anthony Hernandez at UFC Vancouver, as well as this weekend’s UFC Paris headliner with Nassourdine Imavov against Caio Borralho, it can become difficult to stand out as a prospective title challenger.

Harry Kettle - August 5, 2025

UFC middleweight Caio Borralho believes Robert Whittaker is getting close to retiring from mixed martial arts. As we know, Robert Whittaker is one of the best middleweights of his generation. There are some out there who might dispute that but in reality, it’s the truth. He has done some incredible things throughout the course of his career, which includes becoming UFC middleweight champion.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - July 29, 2025

Robert Whittaker has delivered a statement following his UFC Abu Dhabi loss against Reinier de Ridder. Whittaker and de Ridder shared the Octagon this past Saturday inside Etihad Arena. The bout went five rounds and was competitive throughout. Ultimately, de Ridder got the nod via split decision, and he might be on his way to a UFC Middleweight Championship opportunity against the winner of Dricus du Plessis vs. Khamzat Chimaev.

Harry Kettle - July 29, 2025

MMA analyst Din Thomas has given his thoughts on what the immediate future could hold for Robert Whittaker. Last weekend, Robert Whittaker fell short in his attempt to overcome and defeat Reinier de Ridder in the main event of UFC Abu Dhabi. While it was an incredibly close fight, it wasn’t quite enough from ‘The Reaper’ as RDR just about edged past him via split decision.

Chris Taylor - July 26, 2025

Robert Whittaker has suffered back-to-back losses for the first time at middleweight, this after dropping a split decision to Reinier de Ridder. Robert Whittaker (26-9 MMA) and Reinier de Ridder (21-2 MMA) collided in the headliner of today’s UFC on ABC 9 event in Abu Dhabi.

Chris Taylor - July 26, 2025

Reinier de Ridder was admittedly surprised that one judge got it “completely wrong” when scoring his fight with Robert Whittaker at UFC Abu Dhabi. De Ridder (21-2 MMA) and Whittaker (26-9 MMA) squared off in a pivotal middleweight main event this afternoon at UFC on ABC 6.

Chris Taylor - July 26, 2025

Today’s UFC Abu Dhabi event was headlined by a key middleweight contest featuring Robert Whittaker taking on Reinier de Ridder. Whittaker (26-9 MMA) had entered the contest looking to rebound, this after suffering a submission loss to Khamzat Chimaev in his most previous Octagon appearance at UFC 308 last October. Prior to that setback, ‘The Reaper’ was coming off back-to-back wins over Paulo Costa and Ikram Aliskerov respectively.

Chris Taylor - July 26, 2025

We have you covered for all of today’s UFC Abu Dhabi’s results, including the main event between Robert Whittaker and Reinier de Ridder. Whittaker (26-9 MMA) will enter the contest looking to rebound, this after suffering a submission loss to Khamzat Chimaev in his most recent Octagon appearance at UFC 308 last October. Prior to that setback, ‘The Reaper’ had scored back-to-back wins over Paulo Costa and Ikram Aliskerov respectively.

Cole Shelton - July 24, 2025

Robert Whittaker believes Reinier de Ridder hasn’t fought anyone like him or with his skills. Whittaker is set to headline UFC Abu Dhabi on Saturday against de Ridder in a pivotal middleweight bout. Whittaker is coming off a stoppage loss to Khamzat Chimaev and is looking to get back into the win column in a big way on Saturday.

Harry Kettle - July 24, 2025

UFC star Reinier de Ridder will attempt to get Robert Whittaker tired when the pair battle in the main event of UFC Abu Dhabi. Since entering the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Reinier de Ridder has been on a sensational run of form. He’s unbeaten, he’s got several finishes under his belt, and he is set to face Robert Whittaker on Saturday night in arguably the biggest fight of his career. At this point, it wouldn’t be at all surprising to see him fight for the belt next if he’s able to get past Whittaker.