Anaheim, CA – Former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker was happy with his performance in his win over Paulo Costa at UFC 298 even if his opponent landed a nasty shot that almost stopped the fight.
“It was alright. I just brushed it off. We’re in the fight game. There are moments, there are milliseconds, that can change the outcome of the fight.,” Whittaker told reporters including Cageside Press at his post-fight scrum on Saturday night.
“You can’t let off for a second, for a millisecond, and sometimes as you said you’re doing everything right and he’ll throw a hail mary spinning heel kick, capoeira kick, and it’ll land.”
Costa did employ a unique kicking style against Whittaker including a spinning heel kick that landed and put the former champion on skates to end the first round.
“But I did brush it off. I want to highlight that,” Whittaker said with a smile.
Even with a big win, and bouncing back from a loss to current champion Dricus Du Plessis, Whittaker isn’t solely focused on getting a title fight next.
“I’ve been in this game for a long time. I understand the rules and how it’s played. The only thing that I’m focusing on is myself, my career, my trajectory, my perfomances. That’s a key thing that I took away from this week,” said Whittaker.
“I got a grip on the reigns. I’m not about to take the foot off the pedal. I’m going to go home spend some time with my new daughter, and then just get straight back into it.”
Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Robert Whittaker above.
