UFC 254: Robert Whittaker back to his brilliant best, as Dana White says title shot now awaits
- Australian former middleweight champ demolishes Jared Cannonier in an epic co-main event on Fight Island
- ‘The work’s done, baby, I’m coming home,’ says Whittaker as rematch with champ Israel Adesanya looms
Australian middleweight Robert Whittaker looked for all the world a champion in picking apart Jared Cannonier for a unanimous points decision in the UFC 254 co-headliner on Sunday and his reward looks likely to be a chance to rule the planet once again.
“I’m very happy it’s all over and that we got the result we all wanted,” the 29-year-old said in the cage afterwards. “The work’s done, baby, I’m coming home.”
The former title-holder has bounced back from giving up his belt to Nigerian-New Zealander Israel Adesanya last October with two comprehensive victories. But this one was where everything really clicked back to the “Bobby Knuckles” (23-5) of old, against a fighter in Cannonier (13-5) who took some massive blows but just kept coming.
“He’s tough, he’s resilient,” said Whittaker. “I thought I had him gone but he stayed in. He got back up. Just a tough guy. I thought it played out like I thought it would. It’s a fight, we’re throwing punches, they’re going to land sometimes. He’s a tough guy, he was in it from the start to the end and it was a privilege to fight him.”
UFC boss Dana White said in the post-fight press conference that Whittaker had forced his way into a rematch with Adesanya.
“It’s very appealing,” said White. “Adesanya has a lot of options but the fight that makes the most sense right now is Whittaker. I thought Cannonier was going to be a much tougher challenge for him. He looked good tonight.”