Robert Whittaker embarks on a brand new journey at UFC 329.
The previous UFC middleweight champion will make the long-awaited bounce as much as mild heavyweight this Saturday when he takes on veteran Nikita Krylov at T-Cellular Enviornment in Las Vegas. Whittaker has spent the previous 12 years competing at 185 kilos (welterweight earlier than that), and to this point he is thrilled with how a lot the low-stress weight reduction has modified his life.
“The Rob Whittaker chapter of the middleweight division is over,” Whittaker stated at UFC 329 media day on Wednesday. “I am very joyful as a light-weight heavyweight. Truthfully, it is life-changing. I’d advocate it to anybody. … I nonetheless must drop some weight, however it’s not that grueling. It is not that dangerous.”
“I used to be in a position to give myself extra vitality throughout camp. My resilience was a lot increased. I felt higher. The whole lot felt higher.”
Whittaker has remained a top-10 prospect at middleweight lately, however has struggled to seek out consistency contained in the cage. The 35-year-old is presently on a uncommon two-fight shedding streak, having suffered a break up determination loss to Reinier de Ridder and a submission loss to Khamzat Chimaev.
These losses harm, however it was the discouraging course of main as much as these fights that satisfied Whittaker he needed to make a drastic change.
“A giant purpose why I made so many modifications is as a result of I did not get pleasure from the previous couple of camps and the previous couple of video games, and I could not proceed until issues modified,” Whittaker stated. “So, I made a change. I moved to mild heavyweight. I did the again finish of the camp at Metropolis Kickboxing, simply the physique and stuff. I introduced my complete tribe to the match itself, and it was actually life-changing for me. I am having fun with the journey.”
“Normally at the moment of yr, I would be hungry, I would need to rehydrate, I would need to go house, I would miss my spouse and youngsters. I assume I’d simply be counting down the times till the struggle was over. Combating requires quite a lot of focus and a spotlight, and I felt like I could not look away. So desirous to go house type of splits my consideration in a method, so I am in a very good place proper now.”
Even higher information for Whittaker and his followers is that he believes a transfer to mild heavyweight ought to lengthen his profession.
“Truthfully, I by no means need to struggle for an additional 5 years. There are different issues I need to do,” Whittaker stated. “I need to play Masters soccer, issues like that. However there’s undoubtedly much more feeling proper now as a result of I keep in mind the previous couple of video games, how I felt after camp, how exhausted I used to be for them, how laborious it was limping round to get to every part. I undoubtedly have a newfound love and lease on this sport compared.”
Whittaker was denied a layup in his first mild heavyweight struggle. Krylov is 9-7 within the UFC at 205 kilos, contemporary off a knockout of Modestas Bukauskas in January. He additionally has wins over two-time title challenger Alexander Gustafsson, Volkan Oezdemir and Johnny Walker.
No matter Saturday’s final result, Whittaker plans to persevere in his new division, particularly with a few of his former opponents already having moved on.
“We do not want validation,” Whitaker stated. “I do know that is my weight class. I am by no means going again to middleweight. These guys are gone. To not point out Chimaev, and (Reinier) de Ridder, and (Paulo) Costa. They’re all mild heavyweights now. So I’ve danced with a few of them already.”
