“Two different levels of Jiu-jitsu from the same guy,” Robert Whittaker bewildered by the costly mistake made by ex-champion at UFC 300

Robert Whittaker analyzes Cody Garbrandt's submission loss at UFC 300.

“Two different levels of Jiu-jitsu from the same guy,” Robert Whittaker bewildered by the costly mistake made by ex-champion at UFC 300

Robert Whittaker (Image via: IMAGO)

UFC 300 began with a match between Deiveson Figueiredo and Cody Garbrandt in a bantamweight fight. Figueiredo, the ex-champion at flyweight, was able to submit Garbrant, the ex-bantamweight champion. Even though the Brazilian came up in weight, he showed impressive strength in the grappling sequences against the American.

Robert Whittaker, the former middleweight champion, gave his thoughts about the fight in his podcast. Whittaker believed that UFC 300 lived up to the hype, and so did Garbrandt vs. Figueiredo. He thought the fight was high-level despite lasting just two rounds. However, he could not fathom how Garbrandt lost the fight via submission.

He [Cody Garbrandt] got put in the head-arm [choke] and he did so well at defending it and holding out, doing the right things to get out of that. Like, it was tight at one point, real tight, but he was doing the right things and he got out of it. Then, Figueiredo got his back, and Cody did all the wrong things. As soon as the arm went around the neck, he tapped. It confuses me because we saw two different levels of Jiu-Jitsu from the same guy in the same fight.
Robert Whittaker via MMArcade podcast
YouTube video

With the victory, Cody Garbrandt had his two-fight winning streak snapped. On the other hand, Figueiredo is now on a two-fight streak at bantamweight. The victory also put him 6th in the bantamweight rankings. Despite the loss, Whittaker felt that Garbrandt should stick to fighting top contenders.

FS Video

Whittaker has a number one contender fight lined up against Khamazat Chimaev at UFC Saudi Arabia. If victorious, Whittaker would fight for the title a second time after losing it. He would either fight Israel Adesanya, which would be his third against him, or Dricus Du Plessis, which would be a rematch.

Robert Whittaker fanboys over Alex Pereira

When Alex Pereira was the UFC middleweight champion, Robert Whittaker angled for a fight against the Brazilian. It appears times have changed for the former champion. After Pereira’s move to the light heavyweight division, Whittaker didn’t have such aspirations.

 Alex Pereira emotes over Jamahal Hill after knocking him out at UFC 300
 Alex Pereira emotes over Jamahal Hill after knocking him out at UFC 300 (via X)

Interestingly, Whittaker has become a fan of Pereira. The way Pereira won the fight against Jamahal Hill impressed him. The Aussie middleweight fighter only had great things to say about Pereira on his podcast.

I'm starting to like the way he [Alex Pereira] approaches fights, I've got to say. He's got to be one of the coolest fighters, in my opinion. He is just so stoic and strong. Even that bow and arrow thing he does with the scream, it's just so cool, dude. And then we look at his actual fighting prowess, and the dude is just a phenom in the stand-up game.
Robert Whittaker via MMArcade podcast

Whittaker felt nobody in the light heavyweight division has the standup to match Pereira. Per Whittaker, the huge skill difference was due to Pereira’s championship-level experience with Glory Kickboxing. Nonetheless, Whittaker didn’t like Pereira’s celebration after he knocked out Hill. As Pereira is no longer in the middleweight division, only time will tell if the Brazilian champion will train with Whittaker one day.

In case you missed it!