Robert Whittaker does not produce a great deal of headlines. He does not talk any crap. Never has he created a picture of himself.
But gently, Whittaker has assembled a résumé that rivals some of their very notable in mixed martial arts.
Whittaker beautifully blended up his striking finished all five rounds, landing jabs, right rights, left hooks, leg kicks and even a front kick into Gastelum’s jaw at the last frame. It was a sublime showcase against the other one of the top rated middleweight fighters on earth.
“I am feeling at the top of the planet,” Whittaker said. “Clearly, this was a really difficult battle. A good deal of people were promoting Kelvin short. … He is among the greatest fighters in the division. This was a really hard fight.”
ESPN had Whittaker rated No. 2 in the world in middleweight forthcoming in. This success should place him in line to get a shot champion Israel Adesanya, who beat him to get the belt a couple of decades back.
“Nothing but admiration,” Whittaker said of Adesanya. “He is a fantastic fighter. However, I believe we ought to speak, partner. I believe that it’s time we crossed paths .”
However, Whittaker withdrew from the bout the afternoon of this card because of a hernia. A diminished gut caused him to need to undergo emergency surgery.
On Saturday, Gastelum was substituting Paulo Costa, Whittaker’s first competitor, who had to pull out because of the consequences of COVID-19.
The reversal of competition didn’t impact Whittaker whatsoever. He rocked Gastelum from the first round with a head kick and never actually slowed down from that point. The exact tough Gastelum hung about for several 25 minutes, but uncommon was a moment when Whittaker wasn’t in complete control.
Afterwards in the initial round, Whittaker shot Gastelum down and landed some ground-and-pound. At the next, Gastelum had a success with his boxing and directly left hands, but Whittaker landed some nice jabs and counters. Whittaker rocked Gastelum again using a mix in the next, a round where Gastelum had some success early.
Whittaker got two nice uppercuts from the fourth round and got straight up out of a Gastelum takedown. At the fifth, Whittaker had been beginning to wear a pair of Gastelum’s crime — Gastelum was bruised up, also — but Whittaker restricted the technical functionality with a sudden front kick into Gastelum’s face.
Whittaker outlanded Gastelum in substantial strikes 150-62, and 115 of these from Whittaker were all to the mind, based on UFC Stats.
Whittaker (23-5) has won three consecutive struggles and 12 of the previous 13 overall.
The California native had dropped three straight before that.
The 29-year-old Gastelum was considered among the greatest middleweight fighters in the world, combating Adesanya for its interim belt in UFC 236 at April 2019.
Saturday’s card has been held without the fans in the UFC Apex, a centre across from the advertising’s corporate campus, together with COVID-19 protocols set up.
