Australiens främsta welterviktare har beslutat att testa lyckan bland större motståndare.
Efter att ha återvänt till vinstkolumnen i sin senaste match på UFC Fight Night 43 i Auckland, Nya Zeeland, har karate- och hapkido svartbältet Robert Whittaker (12-4) valt att skippa bantningen framöver.
Han redogjorde sina motiv för flytten då han gästade den australienska podcasten This Week In MMA.
”I’ve been fighting welterweight for a long time. Ever since I was 16, 17, 18. It’s a long time for a lot of weight cuts and I’ve been gradually been getting bigger and bigger and the weight cuts became a little big harder and harder.”
”It’s not as if I’m in a position to not make the weight because I’ve had tonnes of practice and it’s down to an art. I think it’s for the longevity of fighting,”
Han nämnde den forne Strikeforce welterviktsmästaren Nate ”the Great” Marquardt (33-13-2) (som nyligen återvände till mellanviktsdivisionen på samma gala som Whittaker slogs senast), som en inspirationskälla för beslutet.
”I heard Nate Marquardt actually mention it at the press-conference and it really hit home. He said that he spent 12 weeks training skills and preparing for skills rather than 12 weeks of dieting and that position that I find myself just about every-time. It’s a rigorous diet. The fight really isn’t the end game. It’s making weight and trying to get there.”
Vem ser ni helst Whittaker möta bland UFCs mellanviktare?
