Not so long ago former middleweight champion recently talked about his ambition to fight his way back to the title before he retires, but he’s now admitted that dream is over after recent fights went poorly.

The 34-year-old Whittaker was manhandled during a first round submission loss to Khamzat Chimaev last October, while five weeks ago he suffered a split-decision loss to Reiner de Ridder, resulting in a slide to the No.8 spot on the 185lb rankings.

“The belt is kind of a pipe dream at the moment after losing to JDR,” Whittaker admitted on Submission Radio. “It’s another loss. It pushes me back much further than I want to be from the title pathway to where I wanted to finish up. My trajectory has kind of changed.“

As such, Whittaker’s plans have now shifted, though it seems that retiring earlier than expected isn’t in his thoughts.

Instead, he’s scrapped his title ambitions and is now focusing on more obtainable goals as he sees out the final few fights of his career.

“I want a few fights left. I want to enjoy the journey. I want to enjoy the fights. I want to enjoy the camp process. I want to enjoy fight week. I want to enjoy the fight itself. I want my family to be apart of that. I want my boys and my kids to see the show, see the background of the big corporation that is the UFC, the most professional MMA tournament in the world through eyes that nobody else can before I wrap things up. That’s my biggest goal right now.

“Obviously, the middleweight division in the UFC is a world of opportunities. Doors open and close left and right, so I’m not shutting any doors, but I do understand the work I’ve got ahead of me. What my primary goal is, and everything else is just kind of gravy on top of that.

“I want to get the next couple of fights out of the way. I want to see how they feel. I want to see how the camp lines up. I want to see how the whole experience feels,” Whittaker continued. “At this point, I’m really comfortable where I am and just want I’m doing right now.”