PARIS – Robert Whittaker admits Marvin Vettori’s pre-fight antics got to him a bit.
The former UFC middleweight champion was left hanging at Friday’s ceremonial weigh-ins for UFC Fight Night 209 after his opponent faked a handshake and then got in his face for a tense staredown. Whittaker (24-6 MMA, 15-4 UFC) went on to beat Vettori (18-6-1 MMA, 8-4-1 UFC) in a unanimous decision in the co-main event of the card.
Afterward, Whittaker told reporters that Vettori’s fake handshake didn’t sit well with him.
“It was grubby,” Whittaker said at the UFC Fight Night 209 post-fight press conference. “It was just grubby. It’s a grubby thing to do. My coaches anticipated he would do something like that to annoy me. It did. It was a grubby act.”
And as far as his performance, Whittaker was able to bounce back from his second championship loss to Israel Adesanya and solidify his status as a top contender in the division.
Whittaker was very much happy with his showing, but says there’s room for improvement.
“I think I let the feeling out process go on a little too long in the first round,” Whittaker said. “I started a little slower than I would’ve liked in hindsight. But that’s always the beauty of hindsight, and after I gauged his space, controlled it, worked out his range, yeah, went to work.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 209.
Robert Whittaker: Marvin Vettori’s fake handshake at weigh-ins ‘a grubby thing to do’
