Former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker has reflected on his loss to Dricus du Plessis.
‘The Reaper’ returned to the octagon earlier this month at UFC 290. There, he faced Dricus du Plessis in a middleweight title eliminator. Sitting cage-side was middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, who was vocal about wanting to face ‘Stillknocks’ next. Luckily for ‘The Last Stylebender’, he got his wish.
At UFC 290, Dricus du Plessis scored a second-round knockout win over Robert Whittaker. The defeat was the first time that the former champion had lost in a non-title fight in nearly a decade. Following the loss, the middleweight contender released a brief post-fight message to social media.
However, weeks on from the loss to Dricus du Plessis, Robert Whittaker reflected on an edition of the MMArcade Podcast. There, the former UFC champion was brutally honest about his emotions around the defeat. On the podcast, the middleweight contender opined that the performance was the worst of his career.
“I went out there with the intention of putting my best foot forward, and giving the best performance of my career,” Robert Whittaker stated, reflecting on his UFC 290 loss to Dricus du Plessis. “Ended up giving the worst performance of my career. That’s the hardest part about the loss. I know I can do better, I beat myself in a funny sense… They’ll say when we’re asked a question, ‘Are you scared?’, no, no.”
He continued, “It’s never fear of my opponent or fear of getting beaten up, fear of getting hurt. It’s the fear of failing to perform, it’s the fear of going out there and not doing what you trained for the last four months. Four hours a day in the gym, seven days a week, to go in there and do none of it.”
“… I’ve only got myself to hold the blame on that, and this isn’t taking anything away from Dricus. Dricus, he trained, he showed up, ready to fight. He fought, he turned up and that’s half of the fight isn’t it? I didn’t, and it’s a funny job to not turn up in, mate.”
What do you make of these comments? Who do you want to see Robert Whittaker fight next?
