Robert Whittaker is planning to reinvent himself in 2025.
The former UFC middleweight champion recently suffered a major setback in his bid to become a two-time titleholder when he squared off against Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 308 in October.
‘Borz’ quickly took him to the floor and applied a nasty face crank submission that displaced the Aussie fighter’s teeth, forcing him to tap out.
Amazingly, Robert Whittaker is already back in the gym working on a new style after making his way to the top of MMA by fighting the same way for a dozen years.
Robert Whittaker is mixing things up after UFC 308
Robert Whittaker has been relatively quiet since losing to Chimaev, besides immediately claiming that the issue with his teeth was caused by a long-time health problem.
‘The Reaper’ recently appeared on a podcast where he revealed the huge discovery made by doctors who fixed his teeth and explained why he couldn’t avoid being taken down by Chimaev.
Whittaker also revealed that he’s working on a new fighting style right now.
The 33-year-old is confident he can get back in the title mix, but he feels the need to change up his game, which may have been figured out by the new wave of MMA stars
“I’m 34 in December,” Whittaker said on the MMArcade podcast. “I still have some tricks up my sleeve. I still have some goals I want to hit. I am fiddling with some new skills.
“I’ve been fighting the same way for about 12 years. A lot of these new guys coming up watched me when they were kids. So, I think the manuscript on how I fight is out there, it’s time to change things up a little.
“I’m gonna surprise some people. Let’s leave it at that for now.
“To be fair, I haven’t even developed it yet, I’ve got to work on it. I got punched about 400 times in the head today [laughs]. The style’s not working yet, but we are working on it.”
Who should get the next middleweight title shot?
Sean Strickland has been sitting on the sidelines waiting for a rematch with middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis since outpointing Paulo Costa in June.
However, some people believe that Khamzat Chimaev’s impressive display against Robert Whittaker was enough to make him the number one contender at 185lbs.
Du Plessis is on record saying he’d prefer to face Chimaev next, but who does Whittaker think should get the next middleweight title shot?
“I think [Khamzat] should go straight to Dricus,” he added.
“I don’t think sitting out should be rewarded, ever.”