Whittaker Wants Usman In March Return

Robert Whittaker is hoping to make his UFC return by March of next year.

That’s right around the same time fellow middleweight Paulo Costa is expected to make his Octagon comeback, but “The Reaper” wants no part of that matchup because he “needs to get paid” and “The Eraser” has a history of bailing on fights.

Including the one he previously booked against Whittaker.

Instead, the 32 year-old Aussie is hoping to score a middleweight showdown against former welterweight titleholder Kamaru Usman, who may hang around the 185-pound division after a short-notice call-up against Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294.

Chimaev exited that contest with an injured hand.

“Definitely the Usman fight interests me because I just think we are both guys that are at the top of the food chain and I want to give him a proper welcome to the middleweight division,” Whittaker told Submission Radio. “I just like that fight … he’s one of the best welterweights to do it and I think fighting fights of that caliber makes me excited. It’s a face I haven’t fought before, it’s exciting, it’s different.”

“The goal to get to the gold, to get back to that title shot, I don’t think it’s as complicated as many people make it out to be,” Whittaker continued. “I just think I need to win several fights in a row. Just win fights. My biggest primary objective right now is to make sure my next fight is on a big card with a big name. It’s more about fitting timelines and moving towards that goal. Getting a title fight isn’t tricky, it’s just about winning fights. If you’re winning fights consecutively, you’re going to get a title shot sooner or later.”

Whittaker (24-7) is looking to rebound from a technical knockout loss to middleweight contender Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 290 last July. “Stillknocks” is the only 185-pound fighter outside of Israel Adesanya to defeat Whittaker since “The Reaper” moved up from welterweight roughly nine years back.

Usman has yet to respond to Whittaker’s challenge.