Former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker has been contemplating moving up to the light heavyweight division for some time. After suffering back-to-back losses in the 185-pound weight class, “The Reaper” confirmed that he’ll be making the move to the light heavyweight division for his next fight.
“I had a really good rest after last fight. I took some breaks. I worked on some other things, and it’s given me a moment to really just settle in and work out what I want to do moving forward,” Whittaker told Submission Radio. “I’m locking in now. I’m locking in for June. I want to get in there. I want to fight again. I want to fight in June at 205 most likely.”
“I’m going to give it a go,” he said. “I want to give it a go. I’m on the tail end of my career, so like I’m going to try rather than just thinking about what-ifs.”
The decision to move up in weight class wasn’t one made on a whim. Whittaker had been kicking around the idea for a ‘long time.’
“I’ve been playing with the idea for a long time,” he said. “During the break, I was kind of training at a heavier weight. I want to lock in and move in to this weight division.”
Whittaker doesn’t have issues making the 186-pound limit for the middleweight division but wonders if the weight cut has affected his performances.
“There’s no doubt in my mind I could make middleweight. I can make it still. I can lose the weight, but I just don’t know if it’s like, if I’m getting the best out of myself, you know, having to cut that weight because the camp performance kind of really suffers on the backend of a weight cut,” Whittaker said.
“I don’t know. Try something different. It’s my life.”
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