Former UFC Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker has squashed rumors about a welterweight return but he has confirmed a fight may be in the works.
Whittaker was last seen in action back in February. He challenged Israel Adesanya for the 185-pound gold. The bout headlined UFC 271. While Whittaker had a much better showing in his rematch with Adesanya than he did in their Oct. 2019 showdown, “The Reaper” fell short via unanimous decision.
Whittaker got people talking recently by hinting that a thinner version of himself will be in action soon.
Skinny Rob might be coming back sooner than I wanted 🥲👊🏽 pic.twitter.com/oKFKRCXBBq
— Robert Whittaker (@robwhittakermma) March 9, 2022
Back to 170? No Chance For Robert Whittaker
Robert Whittaker hasn’t competed at 170 pounds since 2014. Rumors swirled due to his social media post and he took to The MMA Hour to clear the air.
“Yeah, I 100 percent was referring to ’85. You know what I think the biggest thing is? People don’t realize how heavy I walk around. So I walk around 215, 220. That’s just my living weight [laughs]. Nah [he wasn’t carrying this much weight when competing at welterweight], it wasn’t like that at 170. I was also much younger. This was like 10 years ago.”
Next Fight In The Works?
Whittaker went on to say that he’s been getting into fight shape because he plans to have a quick turnaround and he may know who he’s fighting, where, and when.
“There might be something in the works. We might have a name picked out, we might have a location picked out. I’m turning it around sooner than I normally do, just jumping straight back in there.
“Yeah, June. That sounds like soon. I’m not confirming June but that sounds like soon.”
Ariel Helwani speculated that Whittaker could be fighting Marvin Vettori at a June card in Singapore. Nothing is confirmed at this time but Middle Easy will keep you posted.
