Robert Whittaker burst onto the mixed martial arts scene and immediately had the makings of a star. Whittaker had compiled a 9-2 record on the regional circuit in Australia, including winning the SFA welterweight championship. From there, it was time for his shot at the big show.
Whittaker, known as “Bobby Knuckles” by some fans, earned his shot in the Ultimate Fighting Championship thanks to an appearance on the reality series The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes. After an impressive showing on the series, Whittaker was able to cap things off by defeating Brad Scott via unanimous decision to win the season’s welterweight tournament.
After TUF: The Smashes, Whittaker stumbled to a 2-2 record.
From there, the Aussie made the move to middleweight which changed the trajectory of his career. Whittaker would go on to haul off six consecutive wins which finally earned him a shot at UFC gold. In that bout, Whittaker defeated Yoel Romero to claim the interim championship which was ultimately promoted to the undisputed title when Georges St-Pierre vacated the belt. During his six-fight run to the title, Whittaker earned an impressive four performance bonuses.
In order to celebrate Whittaker’s impressive run in the UFC, they compiled a list of some of his most thrilling and exciting finishes for the promotion.
Here are the best finishes of Robert Whittaker’s UFC career and run to the title.
Robert Whittaker’s Best UFC Finishes
Check out the top finishes from UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker. Whittaker defends his belt against interim champ Israel Adesanya at UFC 243.
Up next for Whittaker is a meeting with interim champion Israel Adesanya in his home country of Australia at UFC 243 on Saturday, October 5. It will be Whittaker’s first bout in over a year with his last contest coming back in June 2018. In that outing, Whittaker scored his second consecutive win over Yoel Romero; both fights earned Fight of the Night honors. Prior to his shot at UFC gold, Whittaker earned two straight Performance of the Night bonuses thanks to consecutive TKOs (head kick and punches) over fellow top contenders Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and Derek Brunson.