“He looked SICK of fighting,” Robert Whittaker reacts to Luke Rockhold’s retirement fight and announcement at UFC 278


“He looked SICK of fighting,” Robert Whittaker reacts to Luke Rockhold’s retirement fight and announcement at UFC 278

Luke Rockhold- Robert Whittaker

Seems like Robert Whittaker saw everything through Luke Rockhold during the latter’s last fight and octagon interview. Whittaker is the former UFC middleweight champion who’s currently the #1 contender and has fought the succeeding UFC champion Israel Adesanya twice now but is hoping for an “inevitable” trilogy against The Last Stylebender sometime in the near future despite having fallen short both times. Adesanya is now heading to defend his title for the sixth time against kickboxing rival Alex Pereira at UFC 281.

Whittaker is now looking forward to fighting former UFC title challenger Marvin Vettori, who’s coming from a win against Paulo Costa via unanimous decision last year. Whittaker is known for his wins over the likes of Jared Cannonier, Kelvin Gastelum, Darren Till, Derek Brunson, Ronaldo Souza, Yoel Romero, Uriah Hall and many more. Whittaker is not only the first-ever Australian UFC champion in history but also the first-ever Australian winner of UFC’s reality TV series The Ultimate Fighter.

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Also Read: “Wasn’t what he sold it to be” – Robert Whittaker recaps Israel Adesanya’s fight against Jared Cannonier at UFC 276

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Robert Whittaker accepts Luke Rockhold’s octagon interview at UFC 278 as “very truthful”

Luke Rockhold
Luke Rockhold

In an interview with Submission Radio, Whittaker talks about his upcoming fight against Marvin Vettori, his impression of visiting a European nation for the first time, his potential move to light-heavyweight in near future and much more. Whittaker also reacted to the retirement of fellow former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold at UFC 278 and what was reflected in the words and body language of the Sanford MMA [Kill Cliff FC], American Kickboxing Academy and RVCA Gym fighter.

“I think he’s had a very successful and an amazing career,” says Whittaker “I think he’s a phenomenal fighter. But you know, how he performed was exactly how he spoke about it afterwards. He looked sick of fighting… and that’s fair, I think there are too many couch critics out there that speak of fighting and don’t really understand how much of the toll [it takes]… I completely understand where he comes from and the lot of the things he said were very truthful…” continues Whittaker.

Also Read: “They did it to ME TOO,” Michael Bisping reacts to Paulo Costa being drug-tested during the weight cutting for UFC 278

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What did you make of Whittaker’s assessment of the whole retirement fight and post-fight process of Rockhold? Who do you think wins between Whittaker and his next opponent Marvin Vettori in what will be UFC’s first-ever fight card in Paris? Where do you put Rockhold amongst the most talented fighters of their time? Who do you think would’ve won if both Whittaker and Rockhold fought each other in their prime? In his prime, Rockhkold had wins over the likes of Chris Weidman, Michael Bisping, Ronaldo Souza, Tim Kennedy and many more.

Also Read: “You mean the son Adesanya MADE you,” Cedric Doumbe responds back viciously to Paulo Costa’s mocking tweet