- Robert Whittaker shared his honest take on his UFC 290 loss to Dricus du Plessis
- “The Reaper” gave a potential timeframe for his return
Robert Whittaker is all smiles following his TKO loss to Dricus du Plessis at UFC 290. The former UFC middleweight champion is looking forward to coming back stronger.
Dricus was the better Fighter
Providing an update about his current status, “The Reaper” gladly said he is in good spirits now and though they both came in prepared, Du Plessis turned out to be the better fighter that night.
“This is just an update. I’m home now with my family. I’m healthy. Congratulations to Dricus! He showed up to fight, and I didn’t. But that’s the nature of the beast,” Whittaker confessed. “You can’t have a day off. It is what it is.”
Expect a promising Return
Whittaker went on and swore to face another obstacle in his career. He assured his fans and supporters that he will work on his game and make a promising return in time. At this point, “The Reaper” sees himself possibly returning inside the Octagon before the year ends.
“But I will say that I do believe that challenges and hardships and obstacles that get presented to you that you overcome, make you stronger. Build character, make you a better man and by fact a better athlete, and I will come back stronger from this,” Whittaker said.
“I’ll come back hopefully by the end of the year,” he continued. “I want to get in the octagon by the end of the year, to get in there and close the year on a win and bring back ‘The Reaper’ you guys know.”
The defeat to Du Plessis saw Whittaker losing a title shot. Since being dethroned by now-reigning UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 243, “The Reaper” bounced back and won three consecutive fights to earn a rematch with Izzy at UFC 271. Unfortunately, Whittaker lost again in their second showdown.
Whittaker then secured a decision win over Marvin Vettori and was given the chance to compete for the title once again when the UFC booked him for a title eliminator bout with Du Plessis at UFC 290.
