Robert Whittaker sees Sean Strickland as logical next opponent in pursuit of title shot

Robert Whittaker is open to fighting Sean Strickland next.

Whittaker (25-7 MMA, 16-5 UFC) rebounded when he defeated Paulo Costa (14-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) by unanimous decision in a back-and-forth standup battle at UFC 298.

With Whittaker hearing rumors that the UFC will return to Perth, Australia in August, the former champion hopes to land on that card. Whittaker hasn’t fought in Australia since losing his middleweight title to Israel Adesanya in October 2019.

“Sean’s up there, as well – I think that’s a good direction,” Whittaker told Submission Radio. “It’s moved me towards that goal that I’m looking for – moves me in the right direction. I think that they’re the most logical choices moving forward, though.

“The only thing I can put down is the date I’m looking for. I hear on the grapevine that there’s a Perth card in August, perhaps. I would love to get on that, to run a show with that.”

UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis is linked to a title defense against Israel Adesanya, so Whittaker sees former champion Strickland (28-6 MMA, 15-6 UFC) as the fighter to beat to get his opportunity – an idea that Strickland’s head coach Eric Nicksick likes. Strickland is coming off a title loss to Du Plessis at UFC 297 in January.

“That’s the logical move to make,” Whittaker said. “I want to fight for the title, right? I understand that’s a bit of a long whatever at this point, and Sean doesn’t look like he’s tied up, so it is the logical step.”