Fans are concerned about saying goodbye to a long-time favorite following a recent announcement.
It’s always emotional watching fighters that have become staples of the UFC roster lay their gloves down in the Octagon.
We saw this recently at UFC Paris, with Paul Craig announcing his retirement following a career that was filled with highlights and exciting moments.
Undoubtedly the most significant retirement of the year was quickly undone after Jon Jones re-entered the testing pool shortly after he made the decision to walk away.
Fans are now speculating that a different modern legend might be setting himself up for life away from competing due to a new update.
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Fans raise concerns about Robert Whittaker nearing retirement after UFC broadcast debut is announced
UFC Perth sees the Octagon head back to the RAC Arena in Australia this weekend for a Fight Night card.
While it will be Dominick Reyes and Carlos Ulberg headlining the event, there will be another fighter in attendance that would elicit the biggest reaction from the fans.
MMA Junkie reported earlier today that alongside the commentary team of Brendan Fitzgerald, Dominick Cruz and Paul Felder, a new fighter will be making his debut as a desk analyst.
Working alongside Felder will be a former UFC champion that is still actively competing, Robert Whittaker.
At 34 years old, ‘The Reaper’ has 24 UFC bouts to his name and is currently coming off the back of consecutive defeats for the first time as a middleweight.
There were questions as to what would be next for Whittaker after his recent loss to Reinier de Ridder, with broadcasting potentially being an option that has now opened up for him.
While fans were excited to see the beloved veteran make this move, they were concerned about what this means for his fighting career.
‘I’ve always enjoyed his analysis and breakdowns of fights, excited to see how he does.’
‘Khamzat [Chimaev] really smeshed this guy into a new occupation.’
‘We all know what this means.’
‘He knows he’s done and now he’s preparing for his day job after.’
‘This is always the first step of retirement.’
‘Retirement is near.’
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Robert Whittaker still has one major goal he wants to tick off in the near future
While Robert Whittaker has been very honest about his ambitions going forward, there is one goal that he still wants to accomplish.
‘The Reaper’ spoke immediately after his latest defeat about wanting to come back and compete in front of the Australian fans.
“It’s been a while and honestly, I’m longing for it. It’s been a while since I’ve fought in Australia and I’d love to fight here again. It’s time.”
Whittaker hasn’t fought in Australia since 2019, and he previously missed out on two opportunities to defend the middleweight title in front of his fans due to injury.
It seems unlikely that the former champion isn’t going to fight again, especially with this still being a goal for him to chase.