Whittaker Promises New ‘Arsenal Of Weapons’ At UFC On ESPN 14

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Former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker will try to rebound from his first loss at 185 pounds when he takes on Darren Till later this evening (Sat., July 25, 2020) at UFC on ESPN 14 live on ESPN/ESPN+ from inside Flash Forum on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Whittaker, 29, is coming off a TKO loss to Israel Adesanya back at UFC 243 in which he relinquished his 185-pound title. It was the first loss in the middleweight division for “Bobby Knuckles” since entering the weight class back in 2014. It was also the first time Whittaker was finished via strikes since Stephen Thompson took him out all the way back at UFC 170.

Needless to say, Whittaker still commands a lot of momentum at 185 pounds as a former champion with a 8-1 divisional record. But in order to keep his name in ongoing title talks the Australian fighter must produce in his return this weekend against Till.

“This fight is huge. I need this next fight,” Whittaker told ESPN. “A lot of questions and answers should arrive from this fight. It will give me direction.

“Across the board, I have improved my skill set. My striking has got crisper and smarter [and] I definitely think my wrestling and grappling has gotten better. I now have such an arsenal of weapons at my disposal. That’s the journey of this sport.”

While Whittaker is just hours away from his first fight in nearly 10 months his return was never a sure thing. In fact, the former UFC champion stepped away from the sport earlier this year to tend to personal affairs. Whittaker used that time off to fall back in love with the sport after his loss to Adesanya and to improve on his already world-class skill set.

“It was either have a break or just quit,” said Whittaker when discussing his loss to Adesanya. “From the break, I have had a very supportive team. My team have been the best. To be able to communicate with them and talk to them and brainstorm some new ideas and move things around.

“From that, and obviously from the forced change of the pandemic … a breath of fresh air has been put back into the training, and that has brought back so much enjoyment and fun.

“I started realising [I was ready for a return] much earlier than I decided to, because you can’t just act impulsively on the first feeling you have. After two months, I came to the decision and I was like, ‘Nah, I’ve got a long time ahead of me.’ I put the loss to Adesanya behind me, and I’ve learned a lot of things about myself.”

If Whittaker is able to take out Till in dominant fashion this weekend at UFC on ESPN 14 it will land him incredibly close to another middleweight title shot. “Bobby Knuckles” may not be thinking about the future as he prepares for his return to the cage but a win on “Fight Island” will position Whittaker exactly where he needs to be for 2021.

“I haven’t thought about it, to be honest,” Whittaker said of a potential title shot. “I just want to get into this fight. I just want to fight and put my skills to work. I don’t care about anything else.”

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC on ESPN 14 fight card this weekend RIGHT HERE, starting with the ESPN+/ESPN “Prelims” matches, which are scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. ET, then the remaining main card balance on ESPN+/ESPN at 8 p.m. ET.

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