Robert Whittaker Suggests He’ll Fight Marvin Vettori This Summer
Robert Whittaker remains laser-focused on regaining the UFC middleweight title after once again falling short against Israel Adesanya earlier this month.
‘The Reaper’ gave Adesanya all he could handle over five rounds but ultimately fell to a unanimous decision defeat, although he has since expressed his belief that he won at least three of five rounds in his rematch with ‘Stylebender’ at UFC 271.
Whittaker isn’t disheartened by his near-miss and is ready to go in search of another UFC title shot. The Aussie fighter believes Marvin Vettori is the man he’ll most likely face next and he says he will be ready to fight ‘The Italian Dream’ in July or August.
“I think he (Israel Adesanya) fights Cannonier next, and then I think I fight someone in the division. I don’t know how many people are left. Probably Vettori? Yeah, he would have to be the highest ranked next up, I believe,” Whittaker told Submission Radio.
“I’m looking forward to [fighting again soon]. I’m going to enjoy my little break now and then get back in the gym, probably look for like a July, August sort of return. I think that will be good, because then I can get a third one in at the end of the year. So, I think that’s good timing for me. But, yeah, that’s very rough, very rough.”
Vettori is another top middleweight contender who has twice lost to the champ. However, he remains a threat to the reign of Adesanya after picking up a big win over Paulo Costa in October. Another big win over Whittaker may be enough to earn him a third crack at Adesanya. While Whittaker certainly won’t do himself any harm by putting a win over Vettori on his already stacked resume.
