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Robert Whittaker: ‘I definitely have a few more in me now’ thanks to light heavyweight move

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1 month ago

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Robert Whittaker: ‘I definitely have a few more in me now’ thanks to light heavyweight move

Robert Whittaker embarks on a new journey at UFC 329.

The former UFC middleweight champion makes his long-anticipated jump up to light heavyweight this Saturday when he takes on veteran Nikita Krylov at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Whittaker has spent the past 12 years competing at 185 pounds (and at welterweight before that), and so far he is thrilled with how much a less stressful weight cut has changed his life.

“The middleweight Rob Whittaker chapter has closed,†Whittaker said at UFC 329 media day on Wednesday. “I'm very happy as a light heavyweight. It is honestly life-changing. I recommend it to anybody. … I still do have to cut weight, it's just not as brutal. It's not as bad.

“I was able to fuel myself much more during the camp. Recovery was much higher. My moods were better. Everything was just better for it.â€

Whittaker has remained a top 10 contender at middleweight in recent years, but has struggled to find consistency in the cage. The 35-year-old is currently on a rare two-fight losing streak, with a split decision loss to Reinier de Ridder and a submission loss to Khamzat Chimaev.

As painful as those defeats were, it was the discouraging processes leading up to those fights that convinced Whittaker he had to make a dramatic change.

“A big prompt into why I made so many changes is that I didn't enjoy the last couple of camps and the last couple of fights and things had to change otherwise I wasn't going to continue,†Whittaker said. “So I made the changes. I moved to light heavyweight. I did the backend of my camp at City Kickboxing, just for the bodies and stuff. I brought my entire tribe with me to the fight itself and it really is life-changing for me. I'm enjoying the journey.

“Normally by this period I'm hungry, I'm water loading, I'm just longing to go home, I'm missing my wife and kids. I guess I was just counting down the days until it's over, where I feel fighting requires such a higher degree of focus and attention that you can't be looking past it. So to want to just go home is kind of splitting my attention, so I'm in a really good place right now.â€

Even better news for Whittaker and his fans, he believes the move to light heavyweight should prolong his career.

“Let's be honest, I don't want to be fighting for another five years by any means, I've got other things I want to do,†Whittaker said. “I want to play Masters soccer, things like that. But I definitely have a few more in me now because the way I was feeling after the last couple of fights, the camps, how drained I was for them, how much of a grind it was, dragging my feet to get to everything. Comparatively, I definitely have a new love and lease on the game.â€

Whittaker was not given a layup for his first light heavyweight fight. Krylov is 9-7 competing in the UFC at 205 pounds and is coming off of a knockout of Modestas Bukauskas this past January. He also holds wins over two-time title challenger Alexander Gustafsson, Volkan Oezdemir, and Johnny Walker.

Regardless of Saturday's result, Whittaker plans to stick it out in a new division, especially with some of his former foes having also made the move already.

“I don't need validation,†Whittaker said. “I know this is my weight division. I'm never going back to middleweight. That fella is gone, let alone we have Chimaev, we have [Reinier] de Ridder, we have [Paulo] Costa, they're all light heavyweights now. So I've already danced with some of them.â€

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MMA

Kaik Brito had one more trick saved for Dana White, and it was brutal

Published

31 minutes ago

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August 19, 2026

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Kaik Brito had one more trick saved for Dana White, and it was brutal
Kaik
Brito had some tricks up his sleeve in his fight against
Namo
Fazil.

Brito (20-6) took on a surging Fazil in a welterweight matchup in
the main event of
Week 2 of
Dana White's Contender Series 2026. While Brito looked
dangerous early in the fight, Fazil's pressure put him on the back
foot as the bout progressed.

However, Brito shut Fazil's lights off with a vicious right hand
early in the third round to earn an
Ultimate Fighting Championship contract. He notably planned to
pull off the finish right in front of UFC CEO Dana
White.

Kaik Brito details Namo Fazil knockout that secured UFC
contract

Brito knows that it looked like he was leaving everything in the
Octagon in the back-and-forth bout. However, the Brazilian claims
he was waiting for the right moment.

In the final round, when his back was against the cage, Brito
noticed he was fighting close to White. That's when he decided to
launch the missile of a right hand that flattened Fazil. He also
says he is ready to make his UFC debut as soon as possible.

“I move different,†Brito said in the post-fight interview. “I cut
angles in a completely different way. And throughout the fight, it
looked like I was going for it all. Believe me, I was saving some
things; I knew I was gonna need it at the end. And I saw Dana right
there, I thought, ‘I'm gonna do this right in front of the boss.
He's gonna see it.' I'm gonna be ready… I want to fight as soon as
possible.â€

Brito came up short against Oban
Elliott in his first DWCS opportunity in 2023. He then went 3-1
on the regional circuit, finishing all of those wins to earn
another shot at a UFC contract.

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MMA

Trent Miller earns UFC deal with rare DWCS shoulder choke

Published

2 hours ago

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August 19, 2026

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Trent Miller earns UFC deal with rare DWCS shoulder choke
Trent
Miller earned an
Ultimate Fighting Championship contract with the first Von Flue
(shoulder) choke submission win of his career.

Miller (10-3) was a massive +280 underdog going into his
middleweight matchup against Douglas
Henrique Rodrigues on
Week 2 of
Dana White's Contender Series Season 10. Miller controlled
Rodrigues on the ground in the first round before putting him to
sleep with a Von Flue choke in the second frame.

Trent Miller earns UFC deal with historic DWCS submission

Miller was awarded a UFC contract after securing the second-ever
Von Flue choke in DWCS history. “The Terminator†also revealed it
was the first time that he finished with a Von Flue choke in his
career.

“He hits hard; he has good striking,†Miller said in his post-fight
interview. “I'm definitely feeling him, my lips a little busted
open. But so thankful for the win. I knew in the first round, once
I got on top of him, I controlled. So that was the plan: second
round, get back on top, I felt the choke was there and I went for
it. I've never actually got it in a fight.â€

Miller had suffered a stoppage loss against Ryan Gandra
in his first Contender Series opportunity last year. The
30-year-old says it was the worst performance of his career and is
glad to have proven his doubters wrong.

“Last year's Contender Series, I had my worst performance of my
life, essentially,†he added. “I had so many doubters, so many
haters come at me. For me to be able to shut them up like that,
it's amazing.â€

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MMA

Cristian Perez explains game-plan change that earned UFC contract

Published

3 hours ago

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August 19, 2026

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Cristian Perez explains game-plan change that earned UFC contract
Cristian
Perez changed his game plan going into his second appearance on

Dana White's Contender Series.

Perez (15-2) came up short against Manoel
Sousa in his first DWCS opportunity last year. “Puas†rebounded
with a first-round knockout win on the regional circuit to earn
another shot at an
Ultimate Fighting Championship contract. He took on Logan
Paxton in a lightweight bout at
Week 2 of DWCS 2026, putting on a striking clinic, knocking
down Paxton twice and finishing him the second time.

Cristian Perez changed his DWCS strategy before stopping Logan
Paxton for UFC deal

Perez had shown impressive grappling in his first DWCS bout against
Sousa. While he's still confident in his ground game, the
27-year-old knows that UFC CEO Dana
White is looking for highlight-reel finishes on Contender
Series. Perez knew he had to alter his game plan to put on a show
to earn a UFC contract.

“The last time the game plan was exactly that: take him down and
try to finish my opponent,†Perez said in a post-fight interview.
“I feel that I do have a very solid purple belt in jiu-jitsu. But
we needed to change the game plan. When you come here, Dana doesn't
want you to come here just to win the fight; he wants you to come
here and impress, to show a savage, that you're an animal. And
that's what we came here for: to fight and put on a show for
everyone.â€

Perez not only earned a UFC contract but also an offer from White
to compete at
Noche UFC 4 on Sept. 12 at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale,
Arizona.

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