According to Robert Whittaker’s manager, the initial plan was to have him fight Sean Strickland.
Whittaker’s manager, Titus Day, said the UFC approached Whittaker (26-7 MMA, 17-5 UFC) with another fight right after he knocked out Ikram Aliskerov at UFC on ABC 6 in June. Day said the name they offered was Strickland (29-6 MMA, 16-6 UFC) at UFC 305 in Perth, but Strickland rejected the offer.
After rebounding from his title loss to Dricus Du Plessis with a win over Paulo Costa, Strickland made it clear that he doesn’t intend on fighting again unless it’s for the title. With Strickland allegedly turning down Whittaker, “The Reaper” was rebooked against Khamzat Chimaev (13-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) in the UFC 308 co-main event Oct. 26 in Abu Dhabi.
“Sean’s obviously taking a very different strategy just sitting there and waiting,” Day told Submission Radio. “He’s probably got a legitimate call for the title, but Rob wants to fight. That’s how he makes a living. Straight after the last fight in in Riyadh, they said to us straight away, ‘Does Rob want to fight?’ Like literally on the day. ‘Does Rob want to fight Sean in Perth?’ And we said yeah, sure, absolutely. And apparently he said no. So yeah, that was it.
“Then we knew there was going to be an Abu Dhabi card coming up. Rob loves fighting there and so he just said, ‘Yeah, I want to fight on that Abu Dhabi card.’ They said, ‘Would you fight Khamzat again?’ He said, ‘Yup, for sure.”
If Whittaker gets past Chimaev, he will be in a two-man race with Strickland for a rematch against middleweight champion Du Plessis. Day isn’t sure if Whittaker would be Du Plessis’ next title defense but thinks a title fight should undeniably be next.
“It’s difficult to know what the UFC is thinking or what they’re going to do, but I know they like fighters that are active,” Day said. “They like fighters that don’t say no. They don’t like fighters that sit around and wait.
“So, I think if Rob goes out and has a any sort of win against Khamzat – particularly if it’s impressive his next fight will be for the title. Whether they slip in a Strickland fight in the meantime, I’m not sure. I doubt it.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 308.
