Media Rob Whittaker, soon 34, says he's retired within two years

[santiago]

Dana just screwed him, and said Strickland is next.

How is that screwing him, ya think Whitaker deserves it over Strickland w/ three L's against Adesanya and DDP?

 

[AL-Tappo McSnappo]

How is that screwing him, ya think Whitaker deserves it over Strickland w/ three L's against Adesanya and DDP?

Yes, he has done enough to get a rematch.

 

[ClosetVitorFan]

That's when they start to decline at age 36-38. Good age to retire. Fighting is a young man's game. Unless you're a freak. (Heavyweights are a different breed and can fight a little longer)

 

[Bork Neslar]

Good idea

 

[JudoThrowFiasco]

He's got a lot of miles on him and has been in a few hard battles and two wars. He's smart to pull the chord at that time

 

[HolmeZy55]

Skipped around in the interview...

DAMN, he says he's 220lbs right now!

Has those Samoan genes, Bobby is a big dude.

 

[BabyBlue_Bomber]

It will be a sad day when he does hang them up, but I’m glad he’s considering it while he is still young…

He’s been in some brutal wars, and we’ve already seen the results of some fighters who have fought longer than they probably should have.

 

[legedema]

too bad that he is fighting Khamzat next.
he should be fighting for the belt this weekend and not Izzy

 

[Vigfree]

Whittaker and Holloway are some of the last fighters I'm personally attached to that are still fighting. They both had very similar careers and are at similar stages now. And to be honest? I think both have reasonable chances to win the belt one last time. If Rob beats Khamzat it'll be huge and I think he has the ability to do it so long as he doesn't get chinned bad on multiple occasions and rocked and finished. He has the defensive wrestling, physicality, size, cardio and superior striking here. I also don't hate his chances vs Dricus in a rematch but think he's gonna have a tough time vs Izzy.

Whittaker bless. He's awesome and one of the only fighters I feel personal attachment to as well.
I like Rob's chances vs Izzy more than you (and at least as much as his chances vs DDP. DDP might be a tougher matchup for Rob due to the sheer physicality).
IMO Rob won the second fight vs Izzy (it was close ofc), and I think he will be confident going in to the 3rd fight if it happens.
fwiw I like DDP vs Izzy at evens (I bet heaps in the last couple weeks at various plus money lines). Strickland laid out a bit of a blueprint, and DDP can certainly put pressure on. Sure his defense isn't as good as SS, but his grappling is better (and he will certainly try to implement it unlike SS) and he can take punches with the best of them. I'm also not sure I buy Izzy's excuses (not sparring/training as hard for this fight but doing it smarter, time off being better, etc...) and I don't expect Izzy to be better (he's at an age/time/activity where I think at best he's par, and possibly worst than last fight). Whereas DDP is likely to be at least as good as previous performances.

 

[GrantB13]

"All the normal things, buying land, investment properties...." Lol unintentional flex

 

[FlyingDeathKick]

He’s like the Poirier of middleweight, but was actually undisputed champ.

I definitely rate him higher than Poirier. Much better tdd and has never been submitted in the UFC. Lone submission loss was way back in 2011. I feel like he has fewer holes in his game to exploit. Poirier surprised me against Makhachev tho, did a great job actually trying and succeeding on defending against the takedown attempts. He was right there in the fight and would have won on 2 judges scorecard had he won the 5th rd, also the finish could have been there if he was able to keep it standing.

Actually when I think about it skillwise they are probably similar, I've always felt like Poirier os a guy that kind of fights to the level of his opponents and also makes way too many mistakes. Dan Hooker fight should not have been as competitove as it was imo.