Robert Whittaker has hit back at the commentary surrounding his physique at UFC 329, admitting he was surprised by some of the criticism being thrown his way before proving the doubters wrong inside the Octagon.
The former UFC middleweight champ made a dream start to life at light heavyweight on Sunday (AEST), stopping dangerous veteran Nikita Krylov in the third round with a nasty finish.
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But while Whittaker’s performance earned widespread praise, plenty of the discussion centred on how he looked physically.
Throughout the broadcast, commentators Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier questioned the Sydneysider’s physique at 205 pounds, while social media was also flooded with debate over whether he looked undersized — or out of shape — for the division.
Rogan described Whittaker as looking “soft” and “puffy”, suggesting he’d need to keep an eye on his weight.
Speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show on Monday, Whittaker addressed the issue immediately.
“Are we going to talk about the elephant in the room? The commentary calling me fat, talking about my weight?” Whittaker smiled.
“Did I look that out of shape? I had abs the day before.
“I just had some salt bloat going on.
“I definitely think I started a bit hard – I had to work into the warmup, and the nerves made things go differently in the first round. I found my rhythm as the fight progressed!”
The 35-year-old also revealed he made the mistake of scrolling through Reddit during fight camp, where fans repeatedly questioned whether he was big enough to compete at light heavyweight.
“I’d take a photo at CKB [City Kickboxing] next to Dan Hooker – Dan Hooker is a tall guy. Tyson Pedro is a giant man,” he said.
“Being in the middle of those giants I always look small.
“So I post a photo up and Reddit is straight away [writing] ‘worried for Bobby’ just constantly. I’d go through the comments, just reading through it. Doing it to myself like that.”
Whittaker admitted the constant criticism crept into his thinking.
“[It got to me] maybe a little bit,” he said.
“I already had nerves coming into this fight.
“Coming off back-to-back losses.
“A middleweight moves up to light heavyweight. Everyone has seen how this story ends a thousand times. So there was a lot of self-imposed pressure.
“And then seeing all the comments… it was one of those moments where you have to feed the belief and starve the doubt.”
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Whittaker said it wasn’t only strangers online questioning the move, with even people close to him expressing concerns.
“They want the best for me, they only want to see me succeed,” he said.
“[but] Their fears were colouring their advice at the time…
“But we got there and I think I’ve earned their faith now.”
‘Bobby Knuckles’ made sure to have the final word on the matter after stopping Krylov on Sunday.
“Feast your eyes on that, Reddit. Too small for light heavy? C’mon. Get some of that into ya,” Whittaker said.
“Bobby’s still got it by the looks of things.”
Despite giving away height and reach to Krylov, Whittaker was consistently the faster fighter, repeatedly snapping the veteran’s head back with combinations before finishing the fight in emphatic fashion.
Now, with his middleweight chapter officially behind him, Whittaker says the move to 205 already feels like the right one and he’s “one good performance away from fighting for the title”.
However, there is one title fight he has no interest in pursuing.
Whittaker ruled out facing either of his City Kickboxing teammates competing at light heavyweight — including undefeated youngster Navajo Stirling and reigning champ Carlos Ulberg.
EVERY KO & submission from UFC 329 | 05:53
“I don’t fight people I eat with,” he explained.
“They’re my team guys… I don’t fight team guys.
“It’s against my ethics.”