Robert Whittaker issues statement following TKO loss to Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 290

Robert Whittaker has issued a statement following his TKO loss to Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 290.

Whittaker (24-7 MMA), the promotion’s former middleweight title holder, collided with surging 185lbs contender Du Plessis (20-2 MMA) on the main card of Saturday’s pay-per-view event in Las Vegas. It was a high stakes matchup as the winner would be awarded the next title shot against reigning middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.

While many fans and fighters had predicted that Robert Whittaker would emerge victorious over Dricus Du Plessis with relative ease, that did not prove to be the case. Instead, the high profile matchup proved to be a coming out party for the South African native. ‘DDP’ was able to get ‘The Reaper’ to the ground in round one, where he busted the former champ up with some heavy ground and pound. Then, in round two, Du Plessis knocked Whittaker down with a right hand and proceeded to put him away with strikes (see that here). 

It was a tough setback for Robert Whittaker, one which temporarily derailed his plans for a trilogy fight with rival Israel Adesanya.

Whittaker broke his silence on the defeat moments ago on social media, sharing the following video post on Twitter.

pic.twitter.com/EvJDS8N0Ur

— Robert Whittaker (@robwhittakermma) July 11, 2023

“Good day everybody. This is just an update. I am home now with my family and I’m healthy. I just want to say firstly a big thank you to all my friends and family and to everyone that messaged me or left a comment on one of the many videos going around showing their love and support. I really do feel it and I appreciate it. I wouldn’t be in it without you guys.”

Robert Whittaker continued:

“Secondly, I want to say a huge thank you to my team and my coaches. Day in and day out they’re in there helping me get to the the fight. Helping me prepare for the fight, helping me get through the day to day battles as well. They are my second family. And I want to say thank you to my sponsors. Obviously there was a big lag between fights and my sponsors were the ones who carried me. So thank you to you guys.”

Concluding, Robert Whittaker congratulated his UFC 290 opponent Dricus Du Plessis on the win.

“And lastly I want to say thank you to, not thank you but congratulations to Dricus. He showed up to fight, you know and I didn’t. But that’s the nature of the beast. You can’t have a day off. Yea, it is what it is. But I will say that I do believe that challenges and hardships and obstacles, that they get presented to you that you overcome make you stronger. They build character, make you a better man by fact a better athlete. And I will come back stronger for this. I’ll comeback hopefully by the end of the year. I want to get back in the Octagon by the end of the year. I want to get back in there and finish… close the year out on a win and bring back ‘The Reaper’ you guys all know.”

Who would you like to see former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker face in his next Octagon appearance?