Robert Whittaker Admits He Didn’t Like Being Middleweight Champion

Former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker admitted he didn’t like being the king of the division that much.

Whittaker lost his middleweight title following a second-round knockout at the hands of Israel Adesanya last month at UFC 243. It ended an unusual title reign for “The Reaper” who never actually won the title — as he was promoted from interim champion — and never defended it either — with Yoel Romero missing weight for their UFC 225 rematch.

But other than that, the Aussie just wasn’t a fan of the expectations that came with being champion:

“Yeah I kind of, I didn’t really like it that much,” Whittaker said on Ariel Helwani‘s MMA Show on Monday (via MMA Mania). “It’s one of those things that, it comes with some pros, but the cons really starting distracting me. There’s a lot of media, a lot of expectations and a lot of self-imposed pressure. It didn’t agree with me super-well.

“I’ve always been the sort of guy who just likes to fight. I like the challenge, I like the next opponent. I like to work at just how am going to beat you. Another thing is, I love being the underdog. I love people just writing me off like, ‘You’re going to lose.’ I love the struggle.”

While most people dream of becoming champion, Whittaker’s end goal was to just beat everyone in front of him. The title was just an add-on of having done just that:

“The biggest thing for me is that even through my journey in the division, that was never the objective,” he added. “The title was never the objective, it was a result of.

“I just focused one one fight after the next after the next. And I just enjoyed it, loved doing it. I am now hungrier than ever, honestly I can say that. I am excited for the next fight and I am excited for what the future brings for next year. And I just can’t wait to get back in there.”

What do you make of Whittaker’s comments?