Is it time for Robert Whittaker to maneuver to mild heavyweight?
Regardless of holding down a spot within the middleweight prime 5, ‘The Reaper’ finds himself in a tricky spot after failing to see his hand raised towards the division’s reigning champion Dricus Du Plessis, and struggling a brutal first-round submission loss towards undefeated Chechen monster Khamzat Chimaev.
Consequently, Whittaker may very well be ready a very long time for one more crack at 185-pound gold, main some to invest that he might high-tail it for mild heavyweight the place the contender’s pool is rather a lot thinner.
One man who loves the thought of Whittaker making the transfer is three-time UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen.
“I like the thought of Whittaker at 205 kilos,” Sonnen mentioned on his YouTube channel. “I absolutely imagine that he has the talents to grow to be world champion. At 185, I feel they’re going to play musical chairs there. I feel that belt’s going to bounce round. I feel we’re within the means of seeing that. Strick—Strickland was champion, and he dropped it. Du Plessis—Strick’s about to go get his belt again. It’s going to be sort of musical chairs.”
does Robert Whittaker have a path again to the middleweight title?
Already arising quick towards Du Plessis, Chimaev, and Israel Adesanya on two separate events, there are only a few paths again to the middleweight title for Robert Whittaker. The most effective-case situation would see Sean Strickland take again the title from ‘DDP’ at UFC 312 on February 8, however even then, ‘The Reaper’ would nonetheless have to take a seat again and see if Strickland can fend off Chimaev who, by all accounts, would be the subsequent man up.
There’s at all times a trilogy struggle towards Adesanya, however with ‘The Final Stylebender’ already going two-up on Whittaker, there’s not a lot of a requirement for the threequel.
After which there’s Whittaker’s lack of showmanship which isn’t doing him any favors in line with ‘The American Gangster.’
“What I don’t know at 185 is an affordable path again to the Robert Whittaker Transfer Up The Gentle Heavyweight? Former UFC Contender Says He Loves The Thought alternative. That’s one other factor that will get very powerful whenever you’ve been round a very long time and also you’ve fought all people. It’s laborious. And Whittaker doesn’t embrace the leisure period that he’s residing via.
“He largely doesn’t, as a result of I hear Whittaker speak—he’s nice. He’s a good-looking man. He’s received this nice story. He doesn’t know these issues. He doesn’t know he’s a cool man. He’s one among… he’s one among these. And I like the thought of him going to 205 kilos. I can’t match him up instantly, I gotta inform you. I don’t—I don’t have that match-up instantly. Like, Robert Whittaker versus Anthony Smith may be very fascinating to me.”
Whittaker is 17-6 below the UFC banner with all however two of his victories coming inside the space.
