The UFC is in the midst of a month-long middleweight division showcase, and Robert Whittaker is well aware of it.
“The middleweight division over the next few is just moving now,” Whittaker told MMA Junkie on Tuesday. “I feel like it was all kind of still for a little bit, but now everything’s moving. There are some big fights on the way.”
Next in a line of big fights involves the former 185-pound champion, Whittaker, on Saturday when he takes on Reinier de Ridder in the UFC on ABC 9 main event at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Whittaker (26-8 MMA, 17-6 UFC) vs. de Ridder (20-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC) is happening on the heels of UFC 318 where Paulo Costa defeated Roman Kopylov and Brendan Allen beat Marvin Vettori in battles of ranked middleweights. The Aug. 9 UFC on ESPN 72 event is headlined by Roman Dolidze vs. Anthony Hernandez, which all leads to the biggest one the following week when Dricus Du Plessis puts his title on the line against Khamzat Chimaev in the UFC 319 headliner Aug. 16.
With so much focus on the middleweight division, the onus is on Whittaker, who’s No. 5 in the official UFC rankings, to make a statement against No. 12 de Ridder after getting quickly submitted by Chimaev in his most recent fight last October.
“I want to bounce back,” said Whittaker, who hasn’t lost two fights in a row since his welterweight days in 2013-2014. “After losing, I’ve always gotten better and come back with a win. It’s important for me to do that again to move toward the direction I want to go, which is that title.”
Whittaker said the biggest thing he learned from the Chimaev fight, in which he suffered a jaw injury from a vicious neck crank that forced him to submit, is that he “can’t be complacent.” Whittaker didn’t elaborate on what he meant but specified there were things about his last training camp that he didn’t like.
“It’s hard to explain, going to take forever to go through,” Whittaker said. “It’s hard. It’s a bigger thing to unpack. I don’t know. It is what it is. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.”
In de Ridder, Whittaker is up against a fighter who’s been on a roll since making his UFC debut last November. While Whittaker’s taken his time to get back in the cage, de Ridder, a former ONE Championship two-division title holder, has rattled off three wins in a row – all finishes – against Gerald Meerschaert, Kevin Holland and Bo Nickal to immediately establish himself as a contender.
For Whittaker, the matchup makes sense, and he knows what he’s facing.
“He’s very good at taking the fight where you’re uncomfortable,” Whittaker said. “He’s got a particular set of skills and a particular game plan that, if he executes well, he gives you a lot of problems. Bo found that out the hard way. I’m looking to be first and take the game where I’m strong. …
“I love being aggressive. I’m a striker by heart, so I want to try and get my mitts on him.”
