Issue 170

September 2018

Robert Whittaker warns middleweight rivals: ‘I don’t think I’ve even scratched the surface of my potential.'

Robert Whittaker is widely regarded as the best middleweight on the planet right now, but like many fighters, things didn’t fall into place right away for the 27-year-old Australian.

Back in 2014, Whittaker was staring down the barrel of losing his place on the UFC roster having suffered consecutive defeats to both Court McGee and then Stephen Thompson at UFC 170.

Despite winning The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes welterweight tournament just the year before, Whittaker knew everything was on the line in his next fight against Mike Rhodes in June 2014 and understandably, there was a lot

of pressure weighing heavy on his young shoulders as he entered the Octagon in his birthplace of Auckland, New Zealand.

“Anyone who suffers two losses in a row in the UFC knows that if they have one more they are probably getting cut,” Whittaker said. “The general rule is ‘three and you’re out’ so when I had back-to-back losses I just remember thinking that I had to win the next one or I’m done.

“Trust me, it’s not good. It just adds more pressure to the situation and it’s more pressure that you don’t need. It’s odd because every fighter that’s ever been in that position has probably been doing everything that they can do to get the win anyway. The pressure was unreal.”

Suffering successive defeats was an unpleasant experience, but it gave Whittaker a wake-up call that ultimately led to the success he’s achieving today.

Big changes were required to get back on track and whilst for some that usually means taking themselves out of familiar surroundings, for Whittaker it meant quite the opposite.

After a period of self-reflection, Whittaker went about finding the right structure for training back in Australia and these days he attributes a lot of his success to finding the right team and the right formula.

“Around that time when I had the two losses in a row, I knew I had to have a very serious look at what I was doing in the sport, what I was doing with my career, and generally just who I wanted to be as a man,” Whittaker said. “I was travelling a lot, spending a lot of time overseas and spending a lot of time away from home. I wasn’t focusing on me and I wasn’t focused on my family.

“I made a lot of changes inside and outside of the cage. I met Fabricio Itte, Alex Prates, Justin Fitzgerald and Justin Lang and those guys helped me implement a new system of training that was based here out of Sydney, Australia. Having those guys around me, it meant I stayed true to my roots and helped me not only save my career but actually become a lot happier.”

The saying goes “a happy fighter is a dangerous fighter” and Whittaker is a perfect example of this being true.

Winning world titles and cashing big checks is often a key motivational factor for most fighters in the modern era, but for Whittaker, those things are just a means to an end. Providing the best possible life for his family supersedes personal glory and success in doing so is the source of his motivation and happiness.

“The biggest thing for me about training at home was seeing my family and my wife every day,” Whittaker said. “Back then she was just my girlfriend, but being home and seeing her and my friends and the rest of my family, it just had a big positive effect on my lifestyle. It isn’t about the fighting; it’s all about what you’re fighting for.

“Just being happy with everything made a huge difference and I believe everything is transferable. If you aren’t happy inside the Octagon or with your training, you aren’t going to be happy outside of it and I believe it works both ways.”

Addressing his life balance and his approach to his career was an important but not exclusive catalyst for the turnaround in Whittaker’s career. The Australian has shown improvements across all aspects of his game since his nine- fight win streak began back at UFC Fight Night 43 and he’s showed very few signs of his development curve plateauing.

Focusing on one core discipline is very much a thing of the past in MMA and Whittaker is the epitome of the modern day fighter striving for excellence in all areas.

“I focus more on what I do outside of the fights than I do the actual fights themselves,” Whittaker. “I put a lot more attention on improving my skillsets every day and what I do in the gym rather than just focusing on individual fights or whether the next fight is for a title or not.

“As soon as I can get back to training I’m going to work on improving each of the individual aspects of the game. I want to get better at jiu-jitsu, boxing, wrestling, everything. I want to compete in those individual sports and I want to excel in them. By doing that, I think it can only make me a better MMA fighter. It’s never been about paving my career path. It’s always just been about being the best me I can be.”

Being in the gym and improving is unfortunately not something Whittaker can do right now. During his last fight against Yoel Romero at UFC 225 in June, Whittaker broke his right hand in the first round and has since had surgery.

With two months of rest required before he can even begin rehab; the Australian is looking at a lengthy period on the sidelines and a return likely won’t come before the end of the year. While frustrating, Whittaker believes it will give a number of contenders in the division an opportunity to stake their claim for a title shot when he does return in 2019 and as far he’s concerned, there’s no shortage of names of who that person might be.

“There are so many guys up there right now, but I think Rockhold is up there,” Whittaker said. “In his last fight, Romero didn’t make weight and he still took the fight when he didn’t have to, so I still consider him one of the top competitors.

“In my eyes, Weidman is also up there and so is Gastelum. There are a few guys that have either lost to each other or to Romero, but they’re all definitely up there as contenders. I’ll have to see who is up there when I’m all healed up. For the minute I’ve just got to focus on myself and I’ll see who the man is when I return.”

With his best years still ahead of him, Whittaker is in prime position to go on and have a career that can put him up there as one of the best of all time. While there’s still a way to go before he enters those conversations, the Australian believes he can still reach greater heights and push himself even further.

Anderson Silva’s all-time record of being UFC middleweight champion for 2,457 days and with 10 title defences might seem like a long way o now, but Whittaker has time on his side and he plans to rule the UFC 185-pounds division for a very long time.

“I’m creating a legacy and I’ve made history already for Australian MMA,” Whittaker said. “I just want to continue on this path and become one of the best fighters there’s ever been.

“I feel good being in the position I’m in given my age. I still think there’s a lot I can do and I don’t think I’ve even scratched the surface of my potential. I’ve given myself a great platform and I can take this to another level.”

*As of October 7, 2019, he is #1 in the UFC middleweight rankings and #14 in the UFC pound-for-pound rankings.