Athletes
ROBERT WHITTAKER IS SEEKING FULFILLMENT
Veteran Contender Looks To Make A Statement In Showdown With Paulo Costa on Saturday Night
Robert Whittaker is a man of few words, but he chooses them with the same precision and purpose that he employs when selecting the strikes he throws inside the Octagon.
There are no long tangents or word salads to pick through when you ask the 33-year-old Australian a question — just a straightforward, honest answer using the least amount of words necessary to convey his point.
Set to return to action this weekend at UFC 298 opposite Paulo Costa, the former middleweight champion is looking to get back in the win column after suffering a second-round stoppage loss to new champ Dricus Du Plessis last summer during International Fight Week in a fight where the ever-candid contender feels he didn’t turn up.
“I vividly remember in the fight just not feeling it, feeling everything not fire the way I want it to,” he said when asked to clarify that feeling, that experience of recognizing “something is off” during his fight with the newly minted titleholder. “After the fight, obviously I was filled with disappointment because I just know I didn’t put my best foot forward.”
Myriad factors contributed to things going askew at UFC 290, and Whittaker and his team have worked to address them all.
Some of that work has come in the gym, in how training camp was constructed, with new pieces added, others taken away, and a renewed focus carried into each session. But another piece of it has been more of a solo effort by the UFC stalwart, who made his promotional debut in December 2012, started fighting several years ahead of that win over Brad Scott, and has spent the majority of the last decade facing the division’s elite.
UFC 298 Full Fight Card Preview
“I’ve been in the game for a long time,” he said, chuckling. “I’ve been in the UFC for a long time, and I’ve been fighting for a long time. I looked on the main card and I’m the most experienced guy fighting.
“(It’s been 12 years in the UFC) and I started fighting several years before that, not to mention, I’ve been fighting at the highest level for a long time. I’ve been fighting contenders and killers, title defenses and title attempts.
Whittaker vs Costa Co-Main Event Preview | UFC 298
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Whittaker vs Costa Co-Main Event Preview | UFC 298
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“It’s easy to get complacent, okay, and it creeps into you,” he added. “It seeps in like poison, and it takes for you to get sick to realize you’ve been poisoned, right?”
Whittaker smiled as dropped that last thought, and whether it was at the spot-on analogy or the admission that things just slowly went from where they needed to be to a place where re-tooling was required doesn’t matter, because it was clear from his demeanor and engagement that “The Reaper” has done what was necessary to get himself back to where he wants to be ahead of his clash with Costa on Saturday night.
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Lots of fighters will speak about “letting loose of the reins a little” following a setback or two because it’s both understandable and sounds good, but this is where Whittaker generally not being a big talker makes that acknowledgement resonate even more.
When he says it, you know that he’s actually taken stock of where he was and where he wants to be, assessed the situation, and come to the tough realization that he wasn’t approaching things with the doggedness — his word, not mine — needed to continue thriving at the elite level.
But rest assured, he has a tight grip on the reins once again.
“I think being aware of it is most of the work done,” Whittaker offered in regard to tightening things up and making changes this time around. “Being aware of it means you can assess it, you can break it down, you can change the way you’re thinking, the way you’re habitually going into things, and that’s what I did. I was aware that I loosened the grip a little bit on the reins and I took it all back.
“It think it’s a mentality that you need to have throughout the camp,” he said when asked about his training camp key word, “doggedness,” and the steps he’s taken to get back to that state of mind ahead of his 2024 debut this weekend in Anaheim. “It’s a mentality that you need to cultivate and nurture so that when you’re in there, when your back’s against the wall, the fire comes out of you and it’s natural.
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“Every session was about getting the most out of it. It was winning every match, winning every round. It was about just grinding — not feeling 100 percent, but still rocking up, still trying to win, and we’ll see how that plays out for me on Saturday.”
A few days out, “The Reaper” is feeling ready; aware of the task at hand and ready to go out there and complete it.
Robert Whittaker | Greatest Hits
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Robert Whittaker | Greatest Hits
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“I feel really good,” he said, smiling. “I’m enjoying myself. I know what I’m here for — I’m here to conquer, I’m here to work — and then I’ll earn my bread, take it back to my family.”
Once again, the word choice is purposeful and telling.
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“I’m here to conquer” is very different than “I’m here to win,” because Saturday night’s clash with the enigmatic Brazilian isn’t just about getting a victory.
Whittaker has stated many times in the build to his bout with Costa that he wants to hurt the former title challenger, that he wants to finish him, and the shift in approach throughout training camp has coincided with a shift in mindset for when he steps through the gate and into the Octagon at Honda Center this weekend.
“We had to bring that mindset in — to get in there and take hit from him,” he began. “Not just win, not just get by —to get in there and physically, literally take it from him.
“I feel powerful and I feel hungry,” he added, “and those two things are pretty dangerous when you’re coming across me.”
With a disappointing performance last time out and a grueling camp where tenacity and ferocity were points of emphasis, Whittaker is eager to get back to work and get things moving in the right direction again.
And how is it going to feel to get out there and have the kind of performance he knows he’s capable of having?
“Fulfilling,” he said, selecting a single word. “It’ll be fulfilling.”
UFC 298: Volkanovski vs Topuria took place live from Honda Center in Anaheim, California on February 17, 2024. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
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