Robert Whittaker has a couple ideas in mind for his next fight. And the former UFC champion is hoping to be added to a big card in the early portion of 2024.
For former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker, getting exactly the opponent and exactly the destination for his next fight is key.
Whittaker, who suffered a loss to Dricus du Plessis this past July at UFC 290 in a title-eliminator, talked with Submission Radio about his plans for 2024.
“My timeline is roughly February, March,” Whittaker said. “I’d like that. I’d like to fight. I was looking to fight later this year. Earlier than today. But we just couldn’t play matchmaker, we couldn’t find the right card to be on.
“We couldn’t work things out. So, my next priority is to be here for the birth of my daughter, and then to take a fight in February or March to try and pay for that.”
Robert Whittaker Likes Kamaru Usman For Next Opponent
A former champion like himself, Kamaru Usman is an interesting name on the mind of Robert Whittaker.
“Definitely the Usman fight interests me, because I just think we’re both guys at the top of the food chain, and I want to give him a proper welcome to the middleweight division, right?” Whittaker said. “I just, I like that fight. He’s one of the best welterweights to do it, and I think fighting fights of that caliber just make me excited. It makes me excited, and it’s a face I haven’t fought before. It’s exciting, It’s different.
“And the goal to get to the gold, to get back to that that title shot, I don’t think it’s as complicated as many people make it out to be. I think I just need to win several fights in a row. Like, just win fights and that’s kind of where you end up regardless, right?
“And I think my biggest concern, my biggest primary objective right now is to make sure that my next fight is on a big card with a big name. I want a fight – and it’s not about the prize fights or the cash.
“No. I want a good fight, that’s filled with honor, that people will want to tune in to, that’ll be a hard fight and honorable fight, and we get it done and thatt pushes me closer to my objective, which is fighting for that title.”
