Robert Whittaker is once again up and running. The last time he stepped into the octagon, the memory was not good for him. Going up against Khamzat Chimaev, Whittaker looked quite confident. Having won his last two fights, ‘The Reaper’ wanted to make a case for a title shot. Unfortunately, Chimaev took him down in the first round and submitted with a rear naked choke. After almost seven months, Whittaker is looking to make a comeback.
Whittaker suffered a brutal injury to his jaw the last time. With a vicious rear naked choke, the Australian fighter broke his jaw. Speaking with ‘Main Event TV’ recently, Whittaker confirmed that he might be back in action in July 2025.
“I wanted late June, but the UFC is really fluid at the moment… they threw names at me, I said yes to every one of them. I wanted to fight Strickland because I thought it made sense,” said Whittaker.
Robert Whittaker is eyeing a return in July
“I wanted late June, but the UFC is really fluid at the moment… they threw names at me, I said yes to every one of them.
I wanted to fight Strickland because I thought it made sense.”
@MainEventTVpic.twitter.com/qO2OFwiXrG
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) May 8, 2025
Meanwhile, apart from looking to claw his way back into the game, Whittaker also had a take on Ilia Topuria, vacating his featherweight title.
Robert Whittaker Supports Ilia Topuria
With Ilia Topuria’s move to the lightweight division trending, many opinions are being thrown around. One of the most popular opinions is that Topuria would struggle among the big guys. However, that is not the narrative that Robert Whittaker aligns with. According to The Reaper, Topuria will have no issues managing his weight in lightweight. Rather, he would have had significant problems in the featherweight class.
“I think by all accounts he used to have really really hard weight cuts, really hard weight cuts. I don’t think he will struggle for power at the heavier weight division, so all props to him. Honestly, after beating Max [Holloway] and after beating Alex [Volkanovski] in the division, he’s kind of cemented his reign in that division,” said Whittaker on the ‘MMArcade Podcast.’
Dana White announced that Ilia Topuria is officially moving to lightweight – vacating the featherweight title.
Alexander Volkanovski vs Diego Lopes throw down at #UFC315 for the vacant featherweight strap. pic.twitter.com/hUE7LioJsE
— Clocked N' Loaded (@ClockedNload) February 20, 2025
Thus, with Whittaker becoming relevant again, it remains to be seen what happens next.
Also Read: Robert Whittaker Gives His Take on Bo Nickal’s Success