Tidigare i år var planen att den tidigare mellanviktsmästaren Robert Whittaker skulle ta sig an Jared Cannonier på UFC 248. Innan matchen kunde bli av blev Whittaker dock tvungen att meddela att han drog sig ur. Härnäst ställs Whittaker mot Darren Till, som han kallar en väldigt farlig motståndare.
Hungern kom tillbaka
Anledningen till att Whittaker drog sig ur mötet med Cannonier var för att han kände sig utbränd och nu berättar Whittaker för MMA Junkie att hungern för att träna och tävla kom tillbaka efter att han spenderade tid borta från MMA.
So when I felt burned out, I didn’t feel like training, I didn’t feel like fighting, I didn’t feel like working, period. Anything, any work – I didn’t want to do anything. I just wanted to couch potato, if you would. So when I was on my break and I was just spending a lot of time with the family, I was just feeling really good. I was just doing things that I wanted to do. I was playing a lot of video games, reading books, pottering around the backyard. I was just doing me. And then that itch, that hunger to grind, to get back into training, to work on my combat, to fight again, to get back in that limelight – that all started coming back. That all started coming back. That fire got lit and it started burning brighter and brighter until it reached a point that I realized I haven’t lost the fire and the will to train and to fight. I was just burned out.
Kommer bli vänner
Efter att hungern kom tillbaka bokades Whittaker in för ett möte mot den tidigare welterviktaren Till, som Whittaker tror han kommer att bli vän med efter mötet.
I find him funny. I think a lot of his posts are funny. He seems like my sort of cat. He’s the sort of guy that I can tell like we’re going to punch on and be friends afterwards. But I’m certainly looking forward to the fight. Just because we fight doesn’t mean we have to hate each other. I’ve never understood that. I understand fighting is very serious and there’s a lot into it and I treat it as such, but I’ve never hated any of my opponents. It just is what it is. This is our job.
En farlig motståndare
Till gjorde sin debut i mellanvikt förra året med en seger över Kelvin Gastelum. Whittaker var imponerad av mötet och ser Till som en väldigt farlig motståndare.
I think it was a very smart fight. I thought he fought to a perfect game plan. Gastelum is very dangerous. Obviously, I was preparing for him that first time, so I understand and I’ve seen a lot of tape. He’s a dangerous guy and Till worked him out and put on a really good performance, in my opinion. I think Till is very dangerous – very, very dangerous. His range and distance finding is uncanny, so I’m going to have to take the fight with a lot of respect, give him respect, and take the fight like any other: train hard, get in there and just see what happens.
I nuläget är Whittaker och Till inbokade för ett möte i Dublin den 15:e augusti men på grund av coronaviruset är det osäkert om och var mötet blir av.
