Robert Whittaker is able to push previous one of many hardest outcomes of his MMA profession.
Talking on his YouTube present on Thursday, the previous UFC middleweight champion lastly addressed his UFC 290 loss to Dricus du Plessis, which noticed Whittaker lose to the South African fighter by way of second-round TKO in a title knockout bout that might have earned him a coveted third crack at UFC champ Israel Adesanya.
“I went in there with the intention of doing my finest and giving one of the best efficiency of my profession, and I ended up giving the worst efficiency of my profession,” Whittaker stated on his The MMArcade Podcast.
“That is the toughest a part of the loss, it is simply that I do know I can do higher. I fought, in a humorous approach. It isn’t performing. And plenty of different athletes and plenty of different fighters will inform you about it, they usually’ll inform you about it they usually’ll say, once we’re requested a query, ‘Are you scared?’ No, no, it is by no means the concern of my opponent or the concern of being overwhelmed or the concern of being harm. It is the concern of not succeeding. It is the concern of going on the market and never doing what you have been coaching for the final 4 months, 4 hours a day within the health club, seven days every week, after which going there and doing none of it.
“And that is sort of the place I am sitting on this room, which pisses me off, as a result of I’ve put months and months and months of labor into the combat and labored with my varied trainers, with my boxing coach, jiu-jitsu, grappling coach, wrestling coach — and I went in there and did completely none of that,” Whittaker continued. “Like, completely none of that. The job simply went out the window.
“That is probably the most upsetting half, as a result of not solely did I lose – shedding is a component – however I did not do something that I labored on, and that is simply disappointing as a result of I can solely blame myself. And that does not take something away from Dricus, as a result of Dricus, he educated, he confirmed up able to combat, and he fought, he confirmed up. And that is half the combat , proper? And I did not. I did not. Humorous job not displaying up, man. Let me inform ya.”
Whittaker, 32, instantly finds himself in an unfamiliar place.
Heading into UFC 290, Whittaker was an ideal 12-0 within the UFC middleweight division towards opponents not named Adesanya, however 0-2 towards the champion. His largest problem was convincing the group and his followers that he deserved a 3rd combat towards Adesanya, however he virtually did. He simply wanted to move Du Plessis.
Now, nevertheless, Whittaker is probably going a number of title shot wins away. However he chooses to make use of the frustration he presently feels as a stepping stone to better issues.
“It is like that. I believe it was the kick within the ass I wanted to essentially take me to the following stage,” Whittaker stated. “It helped me line up just a few of my objectives, like title objectives and successful and beating Izzy and now Dricus. I need to end my profession by no means shedding once more. I need to end my profession undefeated any longer.
“And I consider that is the wake-up name that I wanted to essentially break away in a way, to handle plenty of the issues that I escaped with that I did not combat final time, that may have caught up with me, that caught up with me within the final combat, that may have finally anyway. And that is plenty of issues that I’ve gotten away with all through my profession simply due to my velocity, my athletic means, my instincts, my eyes, all that jazz stuff.
“Man, going 10 months, 11 months between fights, placing all this work in after which getting middle stage and doing none of it was actually, actually disappointing for me,” Whittaker continued. “Actually, actually disappointing for me. Since you see, like, in that second combat with Izzy, I misplaced, however no less than I did what I educated for. So this combat, I did not do something and simply let my coaches down. And I do know they do not really feel that approach, however I do. I failed my coaches, I failed my followers and my pals. However I do not know, this sense, I am utilizing this sense as vitality, I am utilizing this sense as my driving power, as a result of I do not need to really feel like this anymore, man.
“That is not how I need to finish my profession. It isn’t the sensation I need to relive. And the one approach to not really feel that approach is to get again to the health club, prepare like a savage, and get again within the octagon as quickly as doable. By means of no fault of my very own, the fights have been additional aside than I would really like. However my aim is to alter that.
Whittaker stated his aim now’s to combat once more in 2023, ideally in November.
With a lot of the UFC’s high 10 middleweight already booked, he floated the concept of doubtlessly dealing with Roman Dolidze, who has gained 4 of his final 5 fights and misplaced a controversial determination to Marvin Vettori in his final outing final March.
After all, he’s additionally open to different choices.
“Or my revenge with Dricus,” Whittaker stated with fun. “That is what I do now, I lose a man and simply complain till I get a rematch. That is my factor. That is my factor now, I need a rematch with whoever beats me.
