Robert Whittaker Is Fine Waiting For A Title Shot

In an interview with MMA Fighting, Robert Whittaker said he’s just fine waiting for a title shot in the UFC. Here are highlights:

On his goals: “I think it might’ve been after (Brad) Tavares that I guess I moved over that mark of just trying to win fights and just trying to win my next fight, and really came in with the idea of ‘why can’t I be champion?’ That’s where I want to go now. I want to be the champ. And then it goes up to where I am today, that, I don’t want to just be the champ. I want to be the best ever.”

On fighters who celebrate before the bout happens: “I did see the news, and you know, I thought it was funny. When I go into a fight, I lock myself into a room that whole week. I don’t return calls. I don’t talk to people. I don’t go out and see the city that I’m staying at, because I’m there for work, I’m there for business. I’m there to do a job. And I don’t know, to me, every one percent starts to take away from fight night. I may be far away off the mark to say this, but this is a personal opinion of mine, that when I see someone doing that, when I see someone celebrate or not thinking about the fight for even one second, I think, ‘ah, that’s good, you keep doing that.’ And I think (about the fight) twice as hard. It’s a funny thing because it’s not bankable and it’s not something I can say, ‘oh, this is how it is,’ but when I square up to someone and I look at them in their eyes, I can tell how this fight is going to play out, and I went into that Octagon on Saturday night with undoubted confidence in my training, my preparation, and my ability. And for me to take that level of confidence into the Octagon with me, there’s not a person in this division that can stop me.”

On waiting for a title shot: “It’s funny you say that, because I think with my last performance, I showed the world that I deserve a shot. I did something that no one else in the division has done to a fighter who hasn’t been stopped in that way [in] a long, long time. A lot of the dudes are trying to just scrimp their way to having a shot by waiting it out, by sitting it out, and by doing these little political maneuvers. But at the end of the day, they’re running out of time. I am not. This is the beginning of my run. This is the beginning of my first run, the beginning of my career, just about. And if it’s a time race, they’re not going to win. I think … I’ve set myself up perfectly for that next shot,” Whittaker added. “And the fact that Bisping has called me out on top of that, it’s just cards in my favor; cards in my favor that I should just sit tight, do what I’m doing, and get prepared for that title shot.”