“THAT WAS FILTHY,” Robert Whittaker reflects back at Marvin Vettori’s handshake snubbing after dominant win at UFC Paris
Robert Whittaker & Marvin Vettori at UFC Paris weigh-ins
Robert Whittaker seems to be that man against whom stressful moments just roll over his shoulder but in reality, the Australian does get bothered by certain things, let’s just say he has a good poker face. Whittaker, the former UFC middleweight champion of the world has only been defeated by only one fighter in the last 8 years and that name is none other than the current UFC middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya.
Other than Adesanya, Whittaker has nearly run through the entire middleweight division in his prime time which, fair enough to say, is still going on right now. Whittaker is known for his wins over the likes of Yoel Romero, Ronaldo Souza, Kelvin Gastelum, Darren Till, Jared Cannonier, Marvin Vettori, Derek Brunson, Uriah Hall and many more. Whittaker last fight resulted in a win coming against Marvin “The Italian Dream” Vettori at UFC Paris, the first ever UFC event in France.
Robert Whittaker’s coaches predicted the snub from Marvin Vettori
In an interview with Ariel Helwani at the MMA Hour, Whittaker talks about the UFC Paris atmosphere, his belief that he is the most dangerous man in the middleweight division, his arch-nemesis Israel Adesanya’s fighting style and much more. In the midst of all, Whittaker reflected back to the day of weigh-ins during UFC Paris. Well, Vettori extended his hand showing a sign of respect to Whittaker but instantly pulled back as soon as the former champion was close to shaking the Italian’s hand in respect. Therefore tricking the Australian.
“Mate that was filthy, absolutely filthy,” says Whittaker. “It was just grubby, it was such a grubby thing to do and I understand where he’s coming from he just wants to try and get into my head a little bit because of being so amicable up until then, he was just trying to throw anything out there in the wind to try and ruffle the feathers and you know what, we knew it was coming, the coaches knew this was coming… it really pissed me off… it just seems like he broke a solemn rule…” continued Whittaker and concluded by saying that he had nothing back to offer to Vettori other than laughing.
What do you make of Whittaker’s take on Vettori’s trick to back off after extending his hand for a handshake? Do you think that was fine or was it too much from Vettori’s side? Who do you think is next for Vettori? Who do you think is next for Whittaker to fight? Should Whittaker fight for the title next if Adesanya loses in his next title defence against Alex Pereira at UFC 281? Where do you put Whittaker amongst the most fan-favourite fighters of all time?
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Abhai Singh Tanwar
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