For the first time in nine years, Robert Whittaker suffered defeat at the hands of Israel Adesanya at UFC 243 this past Saturday.
The former UFC Middleweight Champion isn't looking to linger on his loss against the undefeated fighter because as soon he’s good and healthy, he wants to get back into the octagon and fight (Transcript courtesy of bloodyelbow):
“I’m not looking to take a long time off,” Whittaker said,
per BJPenn.com. “
Obviously I have to give myself the appropriate amount of rest time for my brain, but I want to get back in there, and I want to just get back to work. If my health is all on point, on check, February, March next year. That’s not out of the ordinary. I think that would be good.”
Despite riding a nine-year wave of victories over talents such as Yoel Romero, Uriah Hall, and Brad Tavares, Whittaker has experienced a loss before and looks to come back better than ever:
“People may not know this, but I’ve lost before,” he explained.
“I’ve lost before, and I’ve came back better, and that’s exactly what I intend to do. I’m under no illusion that I was unbeatable; everybody can beat everybody on the given day, and I’m just going to lick my wounds, I’m going to get back on the mats on Monday, and I’m just going to start training again and try to just beat the next guy.”
The middleweight makes no excuses on his loss against Adesanya and credits the fighter for having better timing then him:
“I felt great going in, I felt great walking out, I felt great in there,” Whittaker said. “
I felt great trading with him. I didn’t feel like I was getting out struck. I felt good, but he’s a great fighter. His timing is on point, and I was trying to close that gap to get in there on him, and I got caught at the end of the first, which set the tone for the second. I got back to what I was doing, and I got caught in the second round, as well.”
There’s no word on who Whittaker could face on his return fight; however, we’ll keep you updated on when the former UFC Middleweight Champion’s return is confirmed. Check out the full podcast
here.