Robert Whittaker News

Russell Ess - June 27, 2017

Robert Whittaker is set for the biggest fight of his career as he is set to take on Yoel Romero in a UFC interim middleweight title fight at UFC 213. Coming off an impressive TKO stoppage over Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, Whittaker has worked his way up to an interim title bout by letting his performances in the Octagon do the talking and not by hyping himself up with trash talk.

Tom Taylor - June 13, 2017

With UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping on the shelf nursing a knee injury, the UFC’s matchmaking team has opted to crown an interim middleweight champion to keep the division moving in the champ’s stead. This interim middleweight title fight will occur at UFC 213 this July 8, when streaking Cuban contender Yoel Romero collides with surging Australian star Robert Whittaker. Given the tremendous skill of both fighters, many people are having trouble confidently picking a winner for their fight. Bisping, however, doesn’t seem to have any trouble in this regard.

Tom Taylor - May 24, 2017

Last night, news broke that UFC 213’s originally planned headliner – a bantamweight title fight between champ Cody Garbrandt and challenger TJ Dillashaw  – had officially fallen through. With this news, it was announced that Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko’s women’s bantamweight title fight had been promoted to the main event spot, and that the new co-main event would see Yoel Romero and Robert Whittaker collide in an interim middleweight title fight. Shortly after this news broke, Whittaker and Romero took to their respective social media channels to make short but sweet statements on the fight. See the two fighters reactions to the news below:

bjpenndotcom - May 23, 2017

Two huge announcements were just made regarding July’s UFC 213 event in Las Vegas. The promotion announced that an interim middleweight title fight between Yoel Romero and Robert Whittaker will co-headline the July 8 event.

Russell Ess - April 24, 2017

There is a new name that was recently established as one of the threats to the UFC middleweight title. Robert Whittaker’s second round TKO over Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza at UFC on FOX 24 really put the division on notice and notched Whittaker up three spots on the official UFC rankings from the #6 spot to the #3 position falling right behind #1 ranked Yoel Romero and #2 ranked Luke Rockhold.

Tom Taylor - April 19, 2017

Riding high on an eight-fight win-streak, which includes triumphs over names like Derek Brunson, Brad Tavares, Tim Kennedy, Lyoto Machida, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and Chris Weidman, Cuba’s Yoel Romero has done pretty much all he can possibly do to earn a shot a UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping. The same can be said of 26-year-old Kiwi Robert Whittaker, who recently extended his middleweight record to a perfect 6-0 with a dominating TKO win over Jacare.

Tom Taylor - April 16, 2017

Last night, on the main card of UFC on Fox 24, Australia-based Kiwi Robert Whittaker stepped onto the canvas with former Strikeforce middleweight king Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. The bout marked the biggest test of the 26 year old Whittaker’s career. Despite the scale of this test, Whittaker passed it with flying colors. First, he reversed an early Jacare takedown, and escaped back to his feet – something very few middleweights have been able to do against the dangerous BJJ whiz. From there, Whittaker began to pick his foe apart on the feet, dropping him once with a punch, and ultimately polishing him off with a head-kick and a storm of followup ground strikes.

Chris Taylor - April 15, 2017

Robert Whittaker put the UFC middleweight division on notice tonight in Kansas City scoring a second-round TKO victory over perennial division contender Ronadlo “Jacare” Souza. The win marked Whittaker’s seventh victory in a row and boosted the 26-year-old into immediate title contention.

Tom Taylor - March 12, 2017

When the UFC brass ironed out their differences with former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, and pencilled him in for an immediate middleweight title shot against divisional king Michael Bisping, their hope was clearly for a positive reception. Unfortunately for them, this booking has been met with plenty in the way of backlash, as its been criticized by fighters like Yoel Romero and Kelvin Gastelum, MMA personalities like Joe Rogan, and of course, the sport’s ever-passionate fans. Not everyone, however, is bent out of shape over this booking. Streaking middleweight contender Robert Whittaker, for example, has adopted a laissez faire outlook on the whole ordeal. In a recent interview with BJPenn.com’s Tom Taylor, Whittaker explained that he’s not particularly bothered by the booking, and that he hopes it produces the massive payday both Bisping and St-Pierre are looking for.  He even admitted that he’s excited to watch the fight.

Tom Taylor - March 12, 2017

Earlier this month, we learned that elite middleweight contender Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza will be returning to the Octagon at UFC on Fox 24 on April 15. The Brazilian grappling specialist will do so against rising Australian contender Robert Whittaker, who recently rocketed into the upper echelon of the division with a dazzling knockout defeat of the dangerous Derek Brunson. While this matchup is an undeniably exciting one, its announcement did catch some fans by surprise. Jacare, after all, is one of the very top contenders in the middleweight division. Though the next middleweight title shot will go to returning former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, Jacare could have easily opted to wait for his shot or, to rematch fellow contender Yoel Romero in an effort to lock down the number-one-contender spot. Instead, the Brazilian has chosen to keep a busy schedule, risking his hard-earned contender status against a ferocious young talent in Whittaker.

Chris Taylor - March 4, 2017

The UFC announced a pair of huge fights for April’s UFC on FOX 24 fight card in Kansas City during tonight’s UFC 209 broadcast. UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson will defend his title against Wilson Reis in the evening’s main event.

Tom Taylor - February 17, 2017

Last month, a frustrated Gegard Mousasi put the majority of the UFC middleweight division on blast, criticizing its elite players for not accepting a fight with him. One fighter who took a hit in the Dutchman’s scathing rant was Australian contender Robert Whittaker, who has been enjoying a bit of time off with family in the first months of the new year. Apparently, Mousasi isn’t impressed by the Australian’s hiatus. “[Robert] Whittaker wants to go on holiday for seven months,” Mousasi told FOX Sports back in January. “I don’t know what he’s up to. I’m looking for a fight.” 

Tom Taylor - November 27, 2016

Last night, the UFC returned to sunny Melbourne, Australia with UFC Fight Night 101. Though most of the fights on the 13-bout lineup were somewhat slow, the main event was an absolutely thriller. That main event pitted Australia’s own Robert Whittaker against Derek Brunson in a clash of rising middleweight contenders. This fight was given the main event spot after the original headliner – a rematch between Luke Rockhold and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza – was scrapped due to injury.

Tom Taylor - November 2, 2016

Earlier this week, the UFC’s November 26 trip to Melbourne, Australia took a significant blow, as former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold was forced out of his planned bout with Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza with an injury. When this unfortunate news broke, there was speculation that the UFC might scramble to find a replacement opponent for Jacare. While that is still not out of the question, we can now confirm that Jacare will no longer participate in the main event. That honor will instead go to middleweights Robert Whittaker and Derek Brunson, who were originally expected to fill the co-main event spot.