Robert Whittaker News

Tom Taylor - May 24, 2017

Last night, news broke that UFC 213’s originally planned headliner – a bantamweight title fight between champ Cody Garbrandt and challenger TJ Dillashaw  – had officially fallen through. With this news, it was announced that Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko’s women’s bantamweight title fight had been promoted to the main event spot, and that the new co-main event would see Yoel Romero and Robert Whittaker collide in an interim middleweight title fight. Shortly after this news broke, Whittaker and Romero took to their respective social media channels to make short but sweet statements on the fight. See the two fighters reactions to the news below:

bjpenndotcom - May 23, 2017

Two huge announcements were just made regarding July’s UFC 213 event in Las Vegas. The promotion announced that an interim middleweight title fight between Yoel Romero and Robert Whittaker will co-headline the July 8 event.

Tom Taylor - May 23, 2017

From the sounds of it, Michael Bisping’s much discussed middleweight title defense against former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre will not happen. If it does happen, it won’t be until the fall, as St-Pierre will not be available until then. Though this might give the impression that Bisping will defend his title against Yoel Romero or Robert Whittaker sometime this summer, Bisping has instead announced that he’s dealing with some nagging injuries, and that he probably won’t be available for a fight for some time. To combat this complicated situation at middleweight, the UFC is reportedly considering a Yoel Romero vs. Robert Whittaker interim middleweight title fight to keep the division moving. This fight, of course, would be of particular interest to the undisputed champion Bisping.

Russell Ess - April 24, 2017

There is a new name that was recently established as one of the threats to the UFC middleweight title. Robert Whittaker’s second round TKO over Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza at UFC on FOX 24 really put the division on notice and notched Whittaker up three spots on the official UFC rankings from the #6 spot to the #3 position falling right behind #1 ranked Yoel Romero and #2 ranked Luke Rockhold.

Tom Taylor - April 16, 2017

Last night, on the main card of UFC on Fox 24, Australia-based Kiwi Robert Whittaker stepped onto the canvas with former Strikeforce middleweight king Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. The bout marked the biggest test of the 26 year old Whittaker’s career. Despite the scale of this test, Whittaker passed it with flying colors. First, he reversed an early Jacare takedown, and escaped back to his feet – something very few middleweights have been able to do against the dangerous BJJ whiz. From there, Whittaker began to pick his foe apart on the feet, dropping him once with a punch, and ultimately polishing him off with a head-kick and a storm of followup ground strikes.

Chris Taylor - April 15, 2017

Robert Whittaker put the UFC middleweight division on notice tonight in Kansas City scoring a second-round TKO victory over perennial division contender Ronadlo “Jacare” Souza. The win marked Whittaker’s seventh victory in a row and boosted the 26-year-old into immediate title contention.

Chris Taylor - April 15, 2017

UFC on FOX 24 Results: Ronaldo Souza vs. Robert Whittaker A key middleweight scrap between Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and Robert Whittaker took place on tonight’s UFC on FOX 24 main card in Kansas City.

Tom Taylor - March 12, 2017

When the UFC brass ironed out their differences with former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, and pencilled him in for an immediate middleweight title shot against divisional king Michael Bisping, their hope was clearly for a positive reception. Unfortunately for them, this booking has been met with plenty in the way of backlash, as its been criticized by fighters like Yoel Romero and Kelvin Gastelum, MMA personalities like Joe Rogan, and of course, the sport’s ever-passionate fans. Not everyone, however, is bent out of shape over this booking. Streaking middleweight contender Robert Whittaker, for example, has adopted a laissez faire outlook on the whole ordeal. In a recent interview with BJPenn.com’s Tom Taylor, Whittaker explained that he’s not particularly bothered by the booking, and that he hopes it produces the massive payday both Bisping and St-Pierre are looking for.  He even admitted that he’s excited to watch the fight.

Chris Taylor - March 4, 2017

The UFC announced a pair of huge fights for April’s UFC on FOX 24 fight card in Kansas City during tonight’s UFC 209 broadcast. UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson will defend his title against Wilson Reis in the evening’s main event.

Tom Taylor - February 17, 2017

Last month, a frustrated Gegard Mousasi put the majority of the UFC middleweight division on blast, criticizing its elite players for not accepting a fight with him. One fighter who took a hit in the Dutchman’s scathing rant was Australian contender Robert Whittaker, who has been enjoying a bit of time off with family in the first months of the new year. Apparently, Mousasi isn’t impressed by the Australian’s hiatus. “[Robert] Whittaker wants to go on holiday for seven months,” Mousasi told FOX Sports back in January. “I don’t know what he’s up to. I’m looking for a fight.” 

Tom Taylor - November 29, 2016

Earlier this month, in the main event of the UFC’s latest trip to Belfast, Northern Ireland, Gegard Mousasi scored a beautiful first-round win over an old foil in Uriah Hall. This win pushed Mousasi up to the outer edges of middleweight title contention. One week after Mousasi’s big Belfast win, Robert Whittaker scored a first-round win of his own over the streaking Derek Brunson. With this win, the young Whittaker found himself almost neck-and-neck with Mousasi in the UFC middleweight rankings.

Tom Taylor - November 27, 2016

Last night, the UFC returned to sunny Melbourne, Australia with UFC Fight Night 101. Though most of the fights on the 13-bout lineup were somewhat slow, the main event was an absolutely thriller. That main event pitted Australia’s own Robert Whittaker against Derek Brunson in a clash of rising middleweight contenders. This fight was given the main event spot after the original headliner – a rematch between Luke Rockhold and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza – was scrapped due to injury.