Robert Whittaker is coming into UFC 298 coming off of a stoppage loss to now middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis, and whereas he acknowledges it wasn’t his finest evening on the workplace, he took rather a lot away from that efficiency this previous July at UFC 290 — together with confidence that he’ll get the higher of du Plessis sooner or later.
Whittaker, a former UFC middleweight world champion, faces Paulo Costa within the co-main occasion of the promotion’s subsequent pay-per-view card Feb. 17 in Anaheim, Calif. “The Reaper” says one of many largest points in his loss to du Plessis was that he didn’t give credence to his opponent’s motivation and starvation as soon as the cage door locked.
“Dricus is a hungry man, and I believe I underestimated that starvation,” Whittaker stated on the UFC 298 pre-fight press convention in Sydney, Australia. “I nonetheless consider I beat him 9 instances out of 10, I nonetheless consider that I’m a greater fighter than he’s, that I’ve a greater ability set than he does, however [fighting] a giant, robust, hungry man that’s prepared to go away all of it there, you should match that. I really feel like I didn’t do this in that final combat and it actually made me assume a bit of bit.”
For the primary time in practically a decade, Whittaker enters the octagon after dropping two of three, which features a title combat choice loss to Israel Adesanya at at UFC 271 in February 2022, and a lopsided choice win over Marvin Vettori at UFC Paris seven months later.
Whittaker and Costa had been paired up twice earlier than, together with a 12 months in the past at UFC 284 when the promotion introduced the bout, though it didn’t get finalized in time. In Whittaker’s eyes, the matchup can’t come quickly sufficient. He’s able to bounce again, and plans to take action in emphatic trend.
“It’s what it’s, the easiest way to make amends is to get again on the horse, and the one solution to show everybody incorrect is to get a win below your belt,” Whittaker defined.
“The du Plessis combat and camp was a great wake-up name. From that combat, from that camp, from that preparation, we went again to the health club, went again house, we noticed issues in hindsight — which is at all times 20-20 — and we took issues away that we preferred, added issues, made some tweaks right here and there, and truthfully, I’d assume it’s been for the higher. I’m coming into this combat hungrier than ever. I’ve been actually centered on attempting to carry that animal again.
“I’m not simply on this combat to win, I’m in it to harm Costa and I believe that mentality is a robust factor to have.”
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