Latest news with #MMArcadePodcast
USA Today
7 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Robert Whittaker: I don't see where Charles Oliveira wins fight vs. 'weapon' Ilia Topuria
Robert Whittaker doesn't like Charles Oliveira's chances vs. Ilia Topuria at UFC 317. Oliveira (35-10 MMA, 23-10 UFC) meets Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) for the vacant lightweight title in Saturday's main event (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Although Oliveira is visibly the bigger fighter, Whittaker doesn't see weight playing a factor in this fight. "Obviously, Charles Oliveira is a weapon of a fighter," Whittaker said on his MMArcade Podcast. "I'm a big fan of his. Big fan of Ilia as well, but I love Charles. Who doesn't? Who doesn't love the story that he has, the heart? He used to be such a quitter in those early days of the UFC and he just stopped quitting. He found something in him and came back with a vengeance all the way to the title to become champion. "Ilia's a different beast. I think that a lot of support that's going toward Charles winning this fight comes from the fact that we don't know what Ilia is going to look like moving up. I've seen a lot of photos circulating of Ilia next to (Raul Rosas Jr.), and when they're looking at size discrepancies, I don't think it's going to be a problem." Whittaker is highly impressed with Topuria's back-to-back knockout wins over Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway. He rates his skillset very highly. "Ilia is a weapon," Whittaker said. "What he did to (Alexander Volkanovski) and what he did to Max (Holloway), two of the best featherweights – Volk being the best featherweight to have ever done it – he starched two legends of the sport. That is unreal. Ilia's skill set is ridiculous. Charles is phenomenal, as well. He's super dangerous off his back. Ilia has the grappling to do it. Charles standing, very textbook – but gets hit a lot. Ilia loves scrapping, loves moving on the inside, loves slipping punches to land punches. He's so good at dirty boxing. I just don't see where Charles wins this fight against Ilia."
USA Today
14-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Robert Whittaker explains how UFC Abu Dhabi headliner vs. Reinier de Ridder came to be
Robert Whittaker explains how UFC Abu Dhabi headliner vs. Reinier de Ridder came to be Robert Whittaker did not expect to draw Reinier de Ridder for his next UFC fight. Former middleweight champion Whittaker (26-8 MMA, 17-6 UFC) will face De Ridder (20-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC) in the UFC on ABC 9 headliner July 26 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Both Whittaker and De Ridder were angling to face Sean Strickland next, but wound up being matched up against each other. "I told my manager, 'Speak to them, tell them I'm looking for late June, early July. International Fight Week looks good, let's get something,'" Whittaker said on his "MMArcade Podcast." "And I was also kind of mentioning Strickland at the time. We're both up there, it makes sense, we've never fought, let's get it done. They came back to me and said, 'Strickland is only just getting back into training. We can try and get that fight to happen, but we don't know when it's going to happen, but (Roman) Dolidze is ready and willing.' I was like, done. Sign me up. Let's go. "I thought I was getting ready for late June, which was in Baku. Then they were like, 'Rob, hold tight, things are moving.' A lot of moving parts. ... Then literally four days ago, they're like, 'RDR, De Ridder, main event, Abu Dhabi, July 26.' I was like, what happened to the other one? I don't know what happened to anything. All I know is the date fit. I understand he's not in the top 10 yet, but he just beat Bo Nickal, he's a good, hard fight, he had two titles in ONE, he's a hard fight. I'm sure he'll be in the top 10 before long. He's a top 10 fighter, competitor at least. That's a hard fight, let's do it. July is a good time, done. So, I just said yes straight away." De Ridder isn't the top-ranked contender that will necessarily get Whittaker back in the title picture right away, but he's coming off plenty of momentum after handing the highly touted Bo Nickal his first-career loss at UFC on ESPN 67 earlier this month. Whittaker takes inspiration from his fellow Aussies who currently hold UFC gold as he looks to wrap up his career on top. "I'm looking forward to it," Whittaker said. "I want to get back in there, and I want to get back in that winning column. I've got some things, I understand I don't want to fight forever. I've got a couple years left in my career, and I want that fairytale ending. Especially after seeing Volk, and now JDM get up, I want that fairytale ending. I want to work my way up to the title, win the belt, and sail off into the sunset. That's the dream I'm pushing and fighting for right now."
USA Today
12-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Robert Whittaker baffled by Belal Muhammad's 'ridiculous' game plan for UFC 315
Robert Whittaker baffled by Belal Muhammad's 'ridiculous' game plan for UFC 315 Robert Whittaker thinks Belal Muhammad trying to prove a point against Jack Della Maddalena cost him at UFC 315. Muhammad (24-4 MMA, 15-4 UFC) lost his welterweight title to Della Maddalena (18-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) by unanimous decision in Saturday's main event at Bell Centre in Montreal. Muhammad opted to stand and trade with Della Maddalena for the majority of the fight, which led to a broken nose, orbital bone, and a split lip. Muhammad promised not to shoot one takedown, which he did for a significant amount of time before trying to mix things up. Whittaker was confused by Muhammad's game plan. "I expected more takedowns," Whittaker said on his MMArcade Podcast. "When he mixed in the striking to bring Jack onto him, to mix into his shots, they were clean every time. I think his only two takedowns more or less were from the open mat, drawing Jack into him. Now why didn't we see more of that? I can't help but feel like Belal was trying to make a point striking with Jack for the first three rounds. If that's the case, that is ridiculous. Jack is amazing at that mid-range boxing. One of my paths to victory for Jack was to embrace the dogfight and make Belal pay for every step he went forward and every time he walked away, which Jack did unbelievably." Muhammad has been known for his high-IQ fight style where he neutralizes his opponents' strengths, and mixes in his grappling to stifle them. "What brought Belal to the title and made him champion was the fact that he could punch, punch, shoot, punch, punch, punch," Whittaker said. "He's not Gilbert Burns on the ground. He's not a guy that when he gets you on your back, he's going to start working those tricky submissions, and you're in a very dangerous spot. He is just that game. He's that punch, punch, shoot, punch, punch, shoot, and we didn't see that."
USA Today
18-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Robert Whittaker tunes out Roman Dolidze's callout, ponders something bigger
Robert Whittaker is focused on bigger things than a fight with Roman Dolidze. Dolidze (14-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) called out both Israel Adesanya and Whittaker after avenging his loss to Marvin Vettori in this past Saturday's UFC Fight Night 254 main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Whittaker (26-8 MMA, 17-6 UFC) was quick to shut down the idea. 'I'm trying to fight a top-five guy, dude,' Whittaker said on his 'MMArcade Podcast.' 'Join the queue.' Whittaker, the former UFC middleweight champion, admits he couldn't make it past two rounds when he watched the fight. 'I watched a round-and-a-half and was like, 'Dude, I have nothing to gain from this,' and I went back to (playing) Monster Hunter Wilds,' Whittaker said. 'Bro, it was just like the exact same as their first fight. They're still at the same pub. 'They're just like, 'Ah, it's you.' And then they just started punching on again. It's the exact same thing. I reckon they should run it back to break the trilogy, to get some proper closure on whatever reason they're having a brawl.' For now, Whittaker is targeting former champ Sean Strickland on June 28 at UFC 317 during International Fight Week, then will see how he feels about a potential move up to light heavyweight. 'I'm going to decide after this next fight,' Whittaker said. '(One more at middleweight) at the very least depending on – I'm going to really try and push the boundaries of muscle-to-weight ratio and everything and just see where we come up.' For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie's event hub for UFC Fight Night 254.
USA Today
19-02-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Why Steve Erceg is more excited to fight Brandon Moreno over UFC title shot
Steve Erceg has never looked forward to a fight as much as Brandon Moreno. Erceg (12-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC) takes on former two-time flyweight champion Moreno (22-8-2 MMA, 10-5-2 UFC) March 29 in the UFC on ESPN 64 main event at Arena CDMX in Mexico City. Moreno is a fight Erceg has always wanted. So much that he finds himself more excited to take on 'The Assassin Baby' than he was when he challenged flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 301. He explains why. 'I've said it plenty of times: If I had a dream fight, it would be Moreno,' Erceg said on the MMArcade Podcast. 'And it's not just Moreno – it's Moreno in Mexico. This couldn't be a bigger event, so I'm very pumped. I don't know if I've ever been this excited for a fight – even the title. I was obviously excited that I'm fighting for a title and stuff, but you always have those nerves. This fight, it was like, oh man. I don't know what it is. I'm so pumped for it. 'My guess is because when I found out I was fighting Pantoja, I'd never fought five rounds. I didn't know if I could hang at that level, different stuff you're not sure about. Now, I've gone five rounds. I was able to hang with the champ. I know I got knocked out in my last fight, but that's another big fight. I'm slowly accruing experience, and I'm pumped for this one.' Erceg will look to snap a two-fight losing skid after a close decision loss to Pantoja, followed by a first-round TKO to Kai Kara-France. Moreno was able to rebound from back-to-back losses himself when he dominated Amir Albazi at UFC Fight Night 246. 'He's an absolute animal,' Erceg said of Moreno. 'He's going to come forward. He's going to bring the fight. He's got good boxing. He can mix it up. He's not amazing at jiu-jitsu and amazing at wrestling or anything like that. He is good there, but his biggest strength is his hands, his toughness, and I just think it's going to be fun. 'Unlike Albazi, I'm not just going to stand there in front of him the same way. That's where Moreno shines the best. Moreno's boxing against Pantoja looked phenomenal, as well. It's because Pantoja is getting in your face, whereas I manage range a little bit better. I think it'll be a little bit harder for him to hit me.'
