Robert Whittaker reveals he woke up on UFC 298 fight day with the flu: “There wasn’t anything that was going to stop me”

Robert Whittaker reveals he woke up on UFC 298 fight day with the flu.

Whittaker recently returned to the Octagon against Paulo Costa in an intriguing middleweight fight. It was a crucial fight for both of their careers, as Whittaker was coming off a TKO loss to Dricus Du Plessis so if he was going to remain a title contender he would need to beat Costa.

Heading into the fight, Robert Whittaker had a ton of confidence he would beat Paulo Costa. But, on fight day, Whittaker said he woke up with the flu. Despite the illness, ‘The Reaper’ knew he couldn’t let that impact him.

No flu was going to get in the way of @robwhittakermma getting the win at #UFC298! ⚔️⚔️⚔️

“There wasn't anything that was going to stop me from getting in there and doing what I had prepared to do. Like, I was so resolved and resolute in in doing that. You know, I can worry… pic.twitter.com/HQkpWKDJJA

— Submission Radio (@SubmissionRadio) February 29, 2024

“I woke up fight day, terribly sore throat, was getting chills throughout the day… I figured I was fortunate or unfortunate that, that was Day 1,” Robert Whittaker said on Submission Radio. “Fight day was Day 1, flu’s are always manageable on Day 1 because by the time I got home by midweek that following week, I was spent. You can hear it now. It’s been a week and a half and I’m still so sick…

“I spoke to you guys before and you would have heard in the interviews, I got, everything all the directions all my emphasis was focusing on my mind space, spoken on bringing out that warrior mentality, that primalness in the art itself. So, on fight day, the work had been done, there wasn’t anything that was going to stop me from getting in there and doing what I had prepared to do. Like, I was so resolved and resolute in doing that. You know, I can worry about being sick tomorrow,” Whittaker added.

Although Robert Whittaker was dealing with an illness, he still fought well at UFC 298 and was able to get a decision win over Paulo Costa. The Aussie did get rocked at the end of the first round but was able to recover and pieced up Costa in the second and third rounds to get the decision win.

With the win, Whittaker improved to 25-7 as a pro and could be in a number one contender fight his next time out.