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At UFC 290, Robert Whittaker suffered the worst loss of his professional career. He engaged in a title eliminator fight with Dricus Du Plessis. Whittaker enjoyed the overwhelming backing of the majority of spectators going into the battle. He was the clear favourite entering the race. Even fight experts predicted Whittaker would prevail. Du Plessis, on the other hand, stunned everyone when he TKO'd "The Reaper" in the second round.
After his defeat at UFC 290, Whittaker appeared on the MMArcade Podcast for the first time. Whittaker acknowledged that he had expected to give his best career performance at UFC 290, but that it did not materialise. The middleweight contender discussed his apprehension about not giving it his all.
He stated "It’s fear of failing to perform. It’s fear of going out there and not doing what you trained for the last four months, four hours a day in the gym, seven days a week — and then to go in there and do none of it.”
The former middleweight champion acknowledged that both his wrestling and boxing required a lot of practise. He was unable to carry out his strategy throughout the battle, though. Whittaker acknowledges the setback, but thinks it may serve as a wake-up call to sharpen his abilities and outlook.
After failing to defeat the champion Israel Adesanya the first two times, Whittaker intended to fight him once more. At UFC 290, things, however, did not go his way. He is currently further away from a title shot. For the time being, Dricus will be the top candidate. Sean Strickland and Adesanya are most likely to square off at the PPV event in Sydney in September.