is Whittaker past his prime?

[TankAbbott4Eva]

Tbh, aside from DDP, who has Whittaker fought that has really good ground control?
Romero didn't hold people down, IIRC.

That's a fair point actually, Romero didn't really wrestle him in their fights. Gastelum and Brunson are good wrestlers but both of those fights stayed on the feet. Jacare did get Whittaker down at one point but couldn't hold him there, not sure if he's known for top control but I'm guessing given his grappling pedigree he should have been able to keep Rob on his back.

 

[bng]

yes
sir bobbert from knuckselvania never been the same after 10 rounds with steroider of god

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

yes. but he's still a world class fighter who could possibly become champion again. i think he's been slowly changing his style because even he must've noticed he's a lot slower than he used to be and his old style heavily relied on him being faster and him having better reaction time. those things are going and now i can see that he's starting to switch his to break up his timing.

him getting old and not changing was a big reason why i picked DDP to not just beat him but KO him. he's definitely changed though, vs Costa you can see him feint blitzes and add pauses to his blizes that change the timing up.

 

[TerraRayzing]

That's a fair point actually, Romero didn't really wrestle him in their fights. Gastelum and Brunson are good wrestlers but both of those fights stayed on the feet. Jacare did get Whittaker down at one point but couldn't hold him there, not sure if he's known for top control but I'm guessing given his grappling pedigree he should have been able to keep Rob on his back.

Jacare was a fantastic grappler and I remember Whittaker getting up from bottom.
Since Jacare though, he hasn't faced many. Like you said, Romero didn't grapple and rely on top control. Brunson and Kelvin weren't too good to get Whittaker to the ground. DDP though, has both good takedowns and top control.
The Ikram fight will answer a few questions and I'm looking forward to it.

 

[Tweak896]

I think he's further past it than fans want to admit. Father time is undefeated. MW has new guys rising up and Whittaker wasn't going to be on top forever.

 

[dipstickjimmy]

Never the best chin vs never had a chin.
Try again.

1. I didn't say you said Never had a chin. I wrote " not have a chin"
2. You are splitting hairs. So does "never had the best chin" mean he has the 2nd best chin in MMA history? Or is it much more reasonable for your words to mean you are saying he doesn't have a chin. You are claiming his chin is sub par. There isn't evidence of that.

 

[ElLunico]

He's past his physical prime. Hes at the age where he's physically still good and obviously so much experience

 

[TerraRayzing]

1. I didn't say you said Never had a chin. I wrote " not have a chin"
2. You are splitting hairs. So does "never had the best chin" mean he has the 2nd best chin in MMA history? Or is it much more reasonable for your words to mean you are saying he doesn't have a chin. You are claiming his chin is sub par. There isn't evidence of that.

Never had an iron chin.
Makes it easier for you to understand?

 

[Morning Star]

Past his prime but not washed. Like Frankie Edgar post title.

 

[Portland8242]

I'd say he is, and if not he's definitely very close to being past it. Desean vs costa wasn't competitive where as Rob vs Costa was.. I think that tells it all.

Thats about how i see it too.

The 27 year old Rob who beat Jacare and Romero would have have probably handily beaten today's versions of Strickland and Costa.

The second Romero fight was widely regarded as the fight that a lot of people say Bobby wasn't the same after.

 

[MeatGrinder]

I think Marcus Davis could piece him up at this point. Box him up.

 

[FriskyRandy]

Yes. He's 32 fights deep and fifteen years in. He's been in some wars and has also had many injuries. You can see it in his reaction time, and his ability to absorb damage.

This.. age isn't everything.

Rob has a million miles. He's a warrior that we don't deserve.

Plus he gets points for being a runescpae player.

 

[Koala]

He has 6 kids. That accelerates father time, which is undefeated

 

[skylolow]

There's no doubt he titering on that downside. But probably has a couple fights at his current level left in him and then we'll for surely see the decline.

 

[WhiteMousse]

The two Yoel fights were wars. Any time Yoel has connected on someone else with those punches, he's won. Whittaker was able to tank them and beat him, but it was expensive.

Since then his chin has not been as sturdy. He's still amazing and a lot of people think he won the rematch with Israel.

 

[Senzo Tanaka]

Yes but he’s still top 5. He basically a really tough gatekeeper instead of a title contender at this point unfortunately.

 

[Harlekin]

He likes gaming and has 5 children, he seems to be a good father who spends a lot of his time with his family.

He ain't the young hungry lion anymore that trains the whole year with the focus on the title.
He's training some inbetween fight camps, but is only focused 2 x 3 months per year on training. Focus is money and retiring in 3 years. Probably building up a few other businesses

 

[CosyToasty]

He's only 33 but he has been at it for years and has taken damage. Do you think Whittaker is past his prime?
If yes, do you think a prime Whittaker would have beaten DDP? That fight was the first time I felt Whittaker was slowing down a little as his blitz wasn't as effective but that might be DDP's skills too.
That Costa fight was another indication that Whittaker has slowed but again, he said he wanted to stand in front with Costa to prove a point.

Absolutely, he may still be relatively young but hes got a lot of miles. Hes been knocked down a fair few times now, not to mention the wars he had with romero.

 

[mkt]

Jacare was a fantastic grappler and I remember Whittaker getting up from bottom.
Since Jacare though, he hasn't faced many. Like you said, Romero didn't grapple and rely on top control. Brunson and Kelvin weren't too good to get Whittaker to the ground. DDP though, has both good takedowns and top control.
The Ikram fight will answer a few questions and I'm looking forward to it.

Interestingly, one of the few guys Romero actually took down and used top control on was Jacare. That made me wonder why he didn't use his wrestling more.

 

[legcramp]

... He never won another fight and even lost to Jake Ellenberger and Erick Silva when both of their careers were on similar declines.

Whittaker seems to be in the first (gradual decline) category. I think he's still Top 5 but not as good as he was 5 years ago.

How can you be on the decline at 18 years old and a prospect still today?