Robert Whittaker is heading into a major middleweight fight against Marvin Vettori at UFC Fight Night: Paris this weekend, but in the lead-up to it he’s revealed that he’s mulling over the possibility of making a permanent move up to light-heavyweight in the near future.
“I’ve been thinking about 205 a fair bit,” Whittaker told Submission Radio. “The problem is, I wouldn’t go to 205 to come back down to 185, just because I don’t want to go to 205 as a fat 185, right? You see a lot of guys try that and they just get starched. And then they come back down. It doesn’t make sense.”
Whittaker has already moved up a division in the past, having originally started out in the UFC at welterweight, posting a 3-2 record, before finding greater success at middleweight.
“When I moved up to 185 the first time, there was no way I would never go back down to 170. I could never. Got to put on muscle, you have to train at that weight. Got to do all of the bits and bobs, then and there. But I’ve been thinking about 205. I think it will be a more natural weight for me, personally, but the height disadvantage is annoying. I don’t know if I would want to deal with that.
It seems Whittaker hasn’t come to a final decision on the matter just yet, and there is a lot to think about as he’s currently the No.1 contender in the division and a win over Vettori would only further strengthen that position, but he’s also now lost twice to current champion Israel Adesanya and so another title shot might not come around any time soon unless he’s dethroned by someone else.
With that in mind, if Whittaker wins on Saturday then perhaps he’ll wait and see what happens in Adesanya’s next fight against his kickboxing nemesis, Alex Pereira, before making any final decision on the mat.
“Once I make the decision to go up to 205, I’m there,” Whittaker said. “That’ll be my division. I’d finish my career there, for better or worse. I’m doing really well at 185. Really well. I’m definitely one of the most dangerous men in the division.”
