Robert Whittaker Move up the Light Heavyweight? Former UFC Contender Says He Loves the Idea

Is it time for Robert Whittaker to move to light heavyweight?

Despite holding down a spot in the middleweight top five, ‘The Reaper’ finds himself in a tough spot after failing to see his hand raised against the division’s reigning champion Dricus Du Plessis, and suffering a brutal first-round submission loss against undefeated Chechen monster Khamzat Chimaev.

As a result, Whittaker could be waiting a long time for another crack at 185-pound gold, leading some to speculate that he could high-tail it for light heavyweight where the contender’s pool is a lot thinner.

One man who loves the idea of Whittaker making the move is three-time UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen.

“I love the idea of Whittaker at 205 pounds,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. “I fully believe that he has the skills to become world champion. At 185, I think they’re going to play musical chairs there. I think that belt’s going to bounce around. I think we’re in the process of seeing that. Strick—Strickland was champion, and he dropped it. Du Plessis—Strick’s about to go get his belt back. It’s going to be kind of musical chairs.”

does Robert Whittaker have a path back to the middleweight title?

Already coming up short against Du Plessis, Chimaev, and Israel Adesanya on two separate occasions, there are very few paths back to the middleweight title for Robert Whittaker. The best-case scenario would see Sean Strickland take back the title from ‘DDP’ at UFC 312 on February 8, but even then, ‘The Reaper’ would still have to sit back and see if Strickland can fend off Chimaev who, by all accounts, will be the next man up.

There’s always a trilogy fight against Adesanya, but with ‘The Last Stylebender’ already going two-up on Whittaker, there’s not much of a demand for the threequel.

And then there’s Whittaker’s lack of showmanship which isn’t doing him any favors according to ‘The American Gangster.’

“What I don’t know at 185 is a reasonable path back to the [title] opportunity. That’s another thing that gets very tough when you’ve been around a long time and you’ve fought everybody. It’s hard. And Whittaker doesn’t embrace the entertainment era that he’s living through.

“He largely doesn’t, because I hear Whittaker talk—he’s great. He’s a handsome guy. He’s got this great story. He doesn’t know those things. He doesn’t know he’s a cool guy. He’s one of… he’s one of these. And I love the idea of him going to 205 pounds. I can’t match him up right away, I gotta tell you. I don’t—I don’t have that match-up right away. Like, Robert Whittaker versus Anthony Smith is very interesting to me.”

Whittaker is 17-6 under the UFC banner with all but two of his victories coming inside the distance.