‘I’m not gonna rule him out…’ - Former UFC Champion Robert Whittaker opens up on his next opponent

Robert Whittaker had a disappointing night at UFC 290 as Dricus Du Plessis defeated him with a second-round TKO. After that loss, fans have been still wondering who could be the next opponent for the former UFC champion. Despite that loss, Whittaker is still one of the best 185-pounders on the planet.

Now, during a recent episode of his podcast, Whittaker opened up on his next opponent. He claimed that Sean Strickland could be his next opponent. As of now, Strickland is reportedly set to replace Dricus Du Plessis in the fight against Israel Adesanya on 10 September for UFC 293.

“I’m excited for the training, I’m back in training already.” - Robert Whittaker

Whittaker said: “Remember we ruled out Sean Strickland because we thought he was fighting Izzy in September. But that doesn’t look to be happening anymore… I can’t see Sean Strickland jumping Dricus if they don’t fight September. I’m not gonna rule him out of the discussion of my next fight. We’re gonna have to wait and see.” 

“It’s one of those things – the division is kind of backed up at the moment, and there’s a lot of moving pieces that are just not moving in the way I want them to. But regardless, I’m gonna focus on just getting back into that winning track. I’m excited for the training, I’m back in training already. I’ve been back in the gym hustling, and I am more eager than ever to get back in there. So I don’t know who it’s gonna be, but we’ll wait and see,” he further added.

After the loss to Dricus, the former UFC champion took to Instagram and posted a video where he congratulated Du Plessis and thanked his family members for their immense support. In the video, he said: "Lastly, I want to say thank you to... not thank you, congratulations to Dricus. He showed up to fight, you know and I didn't. But that's the nature of the beast, you know, that's the nature of the beast. You can't have a day off. Yeah, it is what it is."