The octagon found itself in a historic first in Saudi Arabia on Saturday. With UFC on ABC 6 at Kingdom Arena, Riyadh now in the books, there is much to look forward to. Consequently, former champion Robert Whittaker delivered one of his career-best wins in the closing bid of the night. The Aussie is now chasing redemption over Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya.
It recently came to be that the 185-pound gold would be up for grabs at UFC 305: Du Plessis vs Adesanya, Live from RAC Arena in Perth, Western Australia. Former titleholder Israel Adesanya ends his sabbatical to challenge ‘Stillknocks.’ Whittaker recently obliterated Ikram Aliskerov in Saudi Arabia. Whittaker feels he’s in the forerunning for undisputed gold with a key middleweight matchup in the bag.
Look at the paperwork. Since that fight, I’ve only improved…I’m not saying if I was on I would’ve beaten him [Du Plessis]…He turned up on the day and beat me fair and square, and now he’s the world champion because of it…Adesanya is still on that list. My goal in mixed martial arts is to live up to my own potential.
Robert Whittaker at the UFC on ABC 6 post-fight conference interviews
‘The Reaper’ proved he still has what it takes to dine at the top of the food chain. Whittaker had some tough stylistic challenges against the heavy-handed Russian. Yet, he earned a spectacularly violent first-round knockout victory, ending it at the 1:49 mark of R1. Utilizing his striking expertise, ‘The Reaper’ from Australia thinks he can do so again.
‘The Last Stylebender’ has beat him twice – once by KO at UFC 243 and another in a razor-thin nod at UFC 271. Having faced quite a stylistic barrage of challenges, Adesanya knows how dangerous he can be. Meanwhile, current champ Dricus Du Plessis handed him a rare defeat at UFC 290 during International Fight Week. Now that Whittaker is rightfully up in the pecking order, he’d aim to rectify those.
UFC on ABC 6 Post-fight Facts: A Study in Robert Whittaker
During UFC Saudi Arabia’s post-fight presser, Robert Whittaker said the only thing he wishes for stepping into the octagon is to live up to his potential. Consequently, the 185-pound star believes he did that during UFC on ABC: Whittaker vs. Aliskerov Main Event. Israel Adesanya and Dricus Du Plessis remain the bumps on his road to undisputed gold next.
Robert Whittaker won big at UFC on ABC 6 (Source: UFC.go.com/X)The first time he met Adesanya, he fell foul to not just his rival’s kickboxing prowess and hip feints. Like his stylistic spatial control, the CKB fighter proved better in front of the 51,127 crowd. The second time, he had a better outing. He has improved greatly since then; speaking on MMArcade Podcast (Episode #35), he even dared Du Plessis for a rebound.
On paper, ‘Reaper’ is currently the most distinctive connotation of a divisional “boogeyman.” Here’s some post-fight factoid working in his favor:
Whittaker (27-7 MMA, 18-5 UFC) is 14-3 since he moved up to the UFC middleweight division in November 2014. His wins are third-most in divisional history behind Michael Bisping (16) and Brad Tavares (15). He now touts 15 of 26 career victories via stoppages, which includes all five in middleweight.
Whittaker’s nine fight-night bonuses are the second-most in the division’s history. He trails only Anderson Silva (12). The latest being $50,000 UFC on ABC 6 fight-night bonuses.
The page will not be turned yet – not on Whittaker’s watch. With back-to-back wins, there might be a chance he can rise up to middleweight gold.
