Former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker has confirmed that he will be moving up to light-heavyweight for his next fight.
The 35-year-old Whittaker’s decision to move up comes after his hopes of fighting his way back to a title shot at 185lbs were dashed after suffering back-to-back defeats against Khamzat Chimaev and Reiner de Ridder, resulting in a slide down to No.9 in the rankings.
Whittaker has previously acknowledged that he is in the final stages of his career, and so it’s a case of now-or-never with regards to testing himself up at 205lbs.
“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.”
A June date could mean he’s targeting the UFC: White House card on the 14th, but there’s reportedly only 6 or 7 spots up for grabs on that show, so it remains to be seen if that’s a possibility and who his potential opponent might be.
