Robert Whittaker will take anybody UFC puts in front of him, including former middleweight champ Sean Strickland.
Whittaker is back in the winning column after defeating Paulo Costa via a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27) at UFC 298 last Saturday. With this, “The Reaper” is now hoping to build up his winning streak again.
When asked about who his next opponent would be, the former middleweight champ entertained the possibility of fighting Stickland, who has a reputation for being a huge trash talker in the industry. Yet, the New Zealand-born Australian is unconcerned about this.
“He’s not that bad,” Whittaker said. “He’s kind of holistically angry at everybody. I don’t think he singles anybody out unless you do something to him particularly.”
Of course, a fight against Strickland would be huge, even if “Tarzan” is no longer the champ. Yet, for Whittaker, there are other interesting options in the division, stressing any fight could be made due to the plethora of talents the class weight has.
“Options are definitely open,” Whittaker said at the UFC 298 post-fight news conference. “The middleweight division is funny. There’s so much movement and fluidity and opportunity in it that any fight could be made in it at any time, anywhere. Honestly, the UFC has always done right by me. I’ve never had to pick my opponents. They’ve always been laid out in front of me. I’m not about to change the way I conduct business right now.”
