Australia’s Robert Whittaker was so troubled by injury before fighting Dricus du Plessis he now admits he should have withdrawn from the fight – while also boldly tipping Israel Adesanya to fight for the light heavyweight title at UFC 300.
Speaking with Fox Sports Australia this week, Whittaker has also backed du Plessis, who is undefeated in six straight Octagon appearances, to suffer his first loss in Sunday’s title blockbuster against reigning champ Sean Strickland at UFC 297.
Six months after being upset by the South African himself at UFC 290, Whittaker is now deep into preparations for his comeback at UFC 298 on February 18 — where he faces Brazil’s Paulo Costa.
UFC 297: STRICKLAND VS DU PLESSIS | SUN 21st JAN | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports. Main Event on Kayo Sports and Foxtel is the new exclusive home of UFC Pay-Per-View events!
While whispers have circulated for months about the 32-year-old having carried significant injury into the DDP encounter – where he was upset via second round TKO – Whittaker has repeatedly refused to be drawn on if, or how badly, he was compromised.
However Australia’s first UFC champion has now confirmed to Fox Sports Australia that not only was he compromised throughout preparations for that last fight, but admits he should have withdrawn and waited to fight later in the year, most likely in Sydney.
The Aussie has also predicted long-time rival Adesanya will move up in weight for his next appearance in yet another showdown with Brazilian adversary, and new UFC light heavyweight king, Alex Pereira.
“I think he will go up and fight Pereira – potentially at UFC 300,” Whittaker said of the New Zealand superstar, who lost his title to Strickland in a shock upset last September.
“That seems like the logical thing to do.
“Right now, there’s more money to be made up there for him and if he can slide right into a title shot, he would be crazy not to.
“I know he posted something about not fighting for a while, then posted something else saying ‘I lied’ … so who knows?
“But I don’t think he is going to sit out.
“I never did.
“He’s not getting any younger, so it’s not like you’re going to sit out (for an extended period) and then think you’ll go well.
“So I think it’s Pereira next.”
When it comes to his own next fight against Costa, Whittaker also revealed his latest preparations have been like “night and day” when compared to his last camp against Du Plessis.
The admission comes after retired UFC star Ben Askren, earlier this month, claimed on Daniel Cormier’s Youtube channel ‘The Reaper’ had carried a “serious” ankle injury into the International Fight Week card.
Askren added that given Whittaker had previously been forced out of several big fights with injury, he decided to battle on against DDP — only to suffer what the Aussie has since described as one of the worst performances of his storied career.
Speaking this week, Whittaker was initially reluctant to be drawn on the Askren claims – “that’s not who I am” – before conceding they were, in part, true.
He also revealed that, if he had his time over, he would have withdrawn from the bout and waited until his injury — which he still refuses to detail — had healed.
Elsewhere, the former champ is also backing Strickland to end du Plessis’s undefeated Octagon tear of six straight wins at UFC 297 in Toronto, Canada this Sunday.
Volk ready to ‘humble’ Topuria in 2024 | 01:31
Despite losing last start, Whittaker remains ranked at No.3 in a UFC middleweight division that will be implicated greatly by Sunday’s result – especially with former champ Israel Adesanya also back in training, potentially for a UFC 300 showdown.
Asked for his UFC 297 prediction, Whittaker said: “Hmmm … mate, I think Strickland has to be favourite.
“I think his ability to keep Dricus on the end of his jab, and to keep going for the five rounds will play heavily into this one.
“But Dricus, he has surprised a lot of people.
“And he’s good at turning his fights into a dog fight, where he generally comes out better than his opponents.
“So I wouldn’t rule him out.
“But I think Sean has to be favourite.
“I can see this one going five … and I think Sean gets it done by keeping Dricus at the end of his jab.”
In terms of his own fight preparations, Whittaker has described his current camp as “like night and day” compared to what took place prior to fighting Du Plessis last July.
Speaking earlier this month about Whittaker, Askren said of his preparation for the International Fight Week bout: “I heard he was dealing with some pretty serious injuries.
“(But) he has pulled out a handful of times and he didn’t want to pull out again.
“I don’t know that to be true, I don’t know how good my sources are, but I heard it multiple times … it was something with his ankle where he couldn’t train very well.
“Both times I heard someone said the same body part.”
Asked this week by Fox Sports Australia for clarity, Whittaker said: “It wasn’t my ankle but, yes, I did take injuries into the Du Plessis fight.
“I don’t like (answering this) because there are a lot of fighters out there who show up fight day injured, that’s how it is.
“And I’m the one who went on with it.
“I took the fight.
“And the injuries, they didn’t really impede me in the fight that much, it was more the preparation …”
So it wasn’t a great camp then?
“No,” Whittaker said bluntly. “No, it was not”.
So Askren was still right to describe the injury as serious?
“Every injury is serious because how you train is how you fight,” the fighter continued.
“If you can’t train properly, you can’t fight properly.
“But again, I don’t really want to make a big deal of this.
“It’s not what I do.
“I was the one who took the fight.
“Obviously with hindsight, I may have done things differently.
“But given I had been so long between fights, given putting it off would have meant then not fighting again until much later … there was just a lot of things that went into it.”
So on reflection, you should have withdrawn?
“Probably, yeah,” Whittaker deadpanned.
“But then there’s been times I’ve fight injured and had some of the best performances of my life.
“Why didn’t that happen this time?
“Who knows?
“There are just too many unknowns.
“But that would have to be one of my worst performances of my life.
“Just didn’t like the way I felt in there.
“But it is what it is.
“It’s a loss on my record.
“And since then, it’s been about trying to rectify those things in camp, trying to do as many things as I can to ensure we don’t have a repeat.
“My biggest focus now is putting it over Costa.
“Getting back in that winner’s circle.
“Make amends for that last fight.
“There is a lot of work I’ve put in that I want to see work.
“I’m not planning anything other than getting to my next fight as healthy and happy as possible.”
#Robert #Whittaker #admits #pulled #Dricus #Plessis #fight #injury #Israel #Adesanya #return #UFC #fight #card
