— Robert Whittaker (@robwhittakermma)
July 11, 2023
It wasn’t the performance Robert
Whittaker had hoped for at UFC
290.
The former middleweight champion started well but ultimately fell
to Dricus Du
Plessis via second-round technical knockout this past Saturday
at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. As a result, Du Plessis, not
Whittaker, is in line to be the next challenger for Israel
Adesanya’s middleweight championship.
Whittaker recently reacted to the defeat in a video post on social
media.
“Congratulations to Dricus. He showed up to fight, and I didn’t,”
Whittaker said. “But that’s the nature of the beast. You can’t have
a day off. It is what it is. 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.”
Prior to Saturday night, the only person to beat Whittaker in the
Octagon in 15 bouts since June 2014 was Adesanya. The PMA Super
Martial Arts representative hopes to make a relatively quick return
to get back into the win column.
“I will come back stronger from this,” Whittaker said. “I’ll come
back hopefully by the end of the year. I want to get in the octagon
by the end of the year to get in there, close the year on a win,
and bring back the ‘Reaper’ you guys all know. But that’s me. I’m
gonna enjoy a couple weeks now with my family just resting and
recalibrating, recharging the batteries. Then I’ll get back in the
gym, get back to work, and come back better than ever. Thanks
again, everybody, and stay tuned.”