Former middleweight champion and top 185-pound contender Robert Whittaker faces No. 3 ranked Marvin Vettori in the UFC Paris co-main event on Saturday.
Whittaker’s only two losses in the last eight years were to current titleholder Israel Adesanya. Despite Whittaker’s impressive record including wins over No. 2 ranked Jared Cannonier and No. 4 ranked Derek Brunson, Vettori doesn’t think Whittaker is improving as a fighter. Whittaker disagrees.
“He’s wrong. I think I am improving,” Whittaker said during the UFC Paris Media Day. “I think there are hard facts that prove I am improving. I think the wins behind going up is hard evidence that I’m improving. I think the way that second fight with Adesanya went is hard evidence that I’m proving, so I think that I’m getting better.”
Whittaker believes that he’s a better fighter than Vettori. He believes that he’s going to be ‘too’ much for “The Italian Dream,” and that Vettori is underestimating him.
“He wants to turn it into a dog fight. He wants to turn it into a bar-room brawl. That’s his fight style,” Whittaker said. “I’m very different. I’m in and out. I hit hard, and I hit fast. I’m technically better than him, I believe. I think I’m going to hit him too much. I think I’m going to be too much for him. I think he’s underestimating how good I am, how fast I am, how hard I hit, and I think that will come out on Saturday.”
Israel Adesanya gives his predictions for UFC Paris main and co-main events
Robert Whittaker says, ‘I’m going to be too much’ for Marvin Vettori