Former UFC champion Robert Whittaker shares timeline for eventual MMA retirement: “Have a solid crack at something else”
UFC icon Robert Whittaker has shared his timeline for an eventual retirement from mixed martial arts.
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Over the course of the last 5-10 years, Robert Whittaker has cemented his legacy as a true fan favorite. The former UFC middleweight champion has done some incredible things in the sport of MMA and at the age of 33, he’s still going strong.
His next task will see him go up against Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 308. In the eyes of many, this is a tricky fight. For Bobby Knuckles, however, it’s just another day at the office.
During a recent interview, Whittaker spoke candidly about his plans to retire from the sport.
Whittaker contemplates retirement
“I’m thinking about wrapping it up around 36. That’s what? Two and a half years,” Whittaker told Demetrious Johnson. “I feel like 36 is a good age to like really have a solid crack at something else, whatever it is I want to do, you know?
“I do the normal things,” he continued. “I save more than I spend. I look to buy land and investment properties whenever I can afford it. I’m looking to push my dreams ahead. I’m not really moving into anything I need to dedicate too much focus towards because I do believe that everything you do that isn’t fighting takes away a little bit of that mental mind space you have, and you don’t have a lot of it.”
“I want to fight by the end of the year,” Whittaker said of why he accepted the Chimaev rebooking. “If they give me a title fight next, I would be happy. If the fight with Dricus and [Israel] Adesanya were to happen then they say, ‘Hey, wait until next year and you can fight for the title.’ I’d wait. What’s an extra couple months, right? It’s a title fight. I’m gonna fight one way or another and winning pushes me towards my goals anyway.”
Quotes via MMA Mania
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