Former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker, who flirted with retirement just months ago, has promised fireworks inside the cage Sunday as the Ultimate Fighting Championship ends its stay on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi.
At the end of last
year, the combined physical and mental pressures of mixed martial arts had the
Australian seriously considering his future in the sport.
“My head space has
undergone the biggest changes. I’m just enjoying the game again,” said the
number one-ranked Whittaker, who faces the fifth-ranked Englishman Darren Till
in Sunday’s UFC Fight Night 174 main event.
“I have such an
arsenal of weapons at my disposal I can take it where I want it. If I want
to take it to the ground, I can take it to the ground. If I want to knock him
out, I can try.”
In a story that has
quickly become part of MMA folklore, the 29-year-old Whittaker had been
ploughing his way up the sand dunes just outside Sydney this past Christmas
Day. It was part of a gruelling daily training routine Whittaker had followed
for more than a decade but, suddenly, he was struck by the thought every
fighter fears.
“It was career
ending burnout, it was either have a break or just quit,” is how Whittaker
explained things Wednesday, during a pre-fight virtual media day.
After eight years
with UFC, and 11 years in total in mixed martial arts, Whittaker had fought his
way to the very top of the fight game, claiming the middleweight title back in
2017.
He had also won
battles over crippling health issues, including medial ligament damage to his
left knee, an abdominal hernia, and a twisted and collapsed bowel that forced
him out of a series of title defences. Whittaker later revealed he had also
struggled at times with depression as he battled to return to fitness.
Whittaker then lost
his title – via knockout to the Nigerian-New Zealander Israel Adesanya in
October last year – but before that fight he had won his way through two brutal
bouts against the Cuban powerhouse Yoel Romero (13-5), fights he has said still
gave him nightmares.
‘Soul searching’
Then came Christmas
Day, the stifling Aussie heat, the sand, and those thoughts of his wife and
three young children back home and all the sacrifices everyone had made across
his career.
It took Whittaker
two full months of rest, and reflection, before the passion returned.
“It was a natural
decision,” said Whittaker. “It was a combination of me talking to my team, of
me talking to my family. Soul searching. It was a mixture of the lot. That’s
the journey of this sport, to just get better.”
What MMA fans will
be hoping to see come Sunday is “Bobby Knuckles” back to his brilliant best.
Whittaker was born
in Auckland, New Zealand, but grew up in Sydney immersed in combat sports such
as karate and, later, wrestling. Since turning his attention to MMA, he has
carved out a life-time record of 21-5 in the sport.
In the 27-year-old
Till (18-2) he faces a former kickboxer who likes to stand and deliver
combinations with fists and feet. Till has moved up from welterweight after
an 0-2 run in that division that included a failed title shot against
America’s then-champ Tyron Woodley (19-5-1) in 2018.
The common thinking
around MMA is that the winner of Sunday’s Whittaker-Till clash will next get a
crack at the middleweight crown.
“This fight is
huge. A lot of questions and answers should arise from this fight,” said
Whittaker. “I need this next fight. I need to get to work. I’m looking forward
to it.”
Sunday’s 15-fight
UFC 174 card is the last of the UFC’s four-event stay on Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island
– rebranded “Fight Island” for the occasion – as the Las Vegas-based promotion
looked to isolate fighters from COVID-19.
There
have been no fans watching and, like all athletes, Whittaker had to pass
tests before leaving for the United Arab Emirates, more on arrival, then spend
48 hours in quarantine.
“But I’ve been
enjoying it, I’ve been having a lot of fun,” said Whittaker. “I’m even enjoying
this Fight Week right now. Cutting weight is cutting weight but everything else
I’m just enjoying. It’s a new attitude, a new mental outlook.”
