Outside Source
Whittaker (27-9) has a new range of opponents available after moving up to light heavyweight. “The Reaper” is eyeing fellow former Ultimate Fighting Championship champion Magomed Ankalaev, who defeated Bogdan Guskov at UFC Abu Dhabi last month.
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Robert Whittaker discusses Magomed Ankalaev, Paulo Costa and UFC light heavyweight matchups
While Whittaker admits Guskov would have been an exciting opponent as well, he also would have been interested in Jan Blachowicz if not for the Polish 205-pounder’s loss to Navajo Stirling at UFC Belgrade. While Paulo Costa has momentum behind him, Whittaker would rather fight others, having already beaten “Borrachinha” in a middleweight bout in 2024.
Whittaker also clarified that he will not fight his teammates Stirling and Carlos Ulberg, the current champion.
“I’d love to get in there with like Ank. Jan just had a loss but would’ve loved to have jumped in there with him,” Whittaker said on the “Believe You Me” podcast. “Bogdan would’ve been great; anyone up. People keep throwing the name Costa out there, but I’ve fought him before; there’s a lot of other guys out there. I won’t fight the boys that I train with. If we reach a point where we’re 1, 2 and 3, with me, Carlos and now Nav, I’m sure we can all sit down and find a way to get paid.”
Stirling also recently dismissed the idea of fighting Ulberg and Whittaker, highlighting the camaraderie they share at City Kickboxing in Auckland, New Zealand.
Whittaker recently moved up to light heavyweight after back-to-back losses at middleweight. The Australian overcame early adversity to knock out Nikita Krylov at UFC 329.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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