TLDR
- Robert Whittaker defeated Nikita Krylov by third-round TKO at UFC 329 in his light heavyweight debut
- The 35-year-old former middleweight champion says he has approximately three fights remaining in his career
- Whittaker plans to announce his retirement ahead of time and fight his final bout in Australia
- The move to light heavyweight came after back-to-back losses at middleweight
- Whittaker believes he could be one win away from a light heavyweight title shot
Sources: sports.yahoo.com | heavy.com
Former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker has revealed he plans to fight approximately three more times before retiring in his home country of Australia.
Whittaker made the announcement during an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show following his third-round TKO victory over Nikita Krylov at UFC 329. The win marked a successful debut at light heavyweight for the 35-year-old fighter.
“I definitely have a few more [fights] in me. A few is three,” Whittaker told Helwani. “My fight time right now is as long as I’m enjoying it.”
The Australian fighter explained that his retirement will be carefully planned rather than sudden. He wants to end his career on his own terms with a final fight in front of his home crowd.
“As soon as I reach the point where I’m starting to drag my feet again, where it’s hard for me to get to training and hard for me to enjoy it, I’ll announce my retirement on an Australian card and make that my last fight and fight out my last one,” Whittaker said. “I want to do that properly, I want to sail off into the sunset the right way, I want to finish my career in my home country.”
Robert Whittaker believes he has around 3 fights left in his UFC career:
"As soon as I reach the point where I'm starting to drag my feet again, where it's hard for me to get to training and hard for me to enjoy it, I'll announce my retirement on an Australian card and make that… pic.twitter.com/lm2X30ah3E
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) July 13, 2026
Moving Up After Back-to-Back Losses
Whittaker’s decision to move up to the 205-pound division came after suffering consecutive losses at middleweight. The weight class change represented a fresh start for the former champion.
He admitted facing pressure and doubt heading into the Krylov fight. Many in the MMA community questioned whether a middleweight could successfully compete against larger light heavyweights.
“I already had a lot of nerves coming into this fight, coming off back-to-back losses. And then, the middleweight moves up to light heavyweight, everyone’s seen how this story ends a thousand times,” Whittaker explained. “There was a lot of self-imposed pressure, along with the nerves and everything else. Then, seeing all the comments and reading people saying I was too small or too short.”
Whittaker said he dealt with the pressure by focusing on his training team and blocking out negative voices. “It was one of those moments where you just have to feed the belief and starve the doubt, and listen to the circle that’s important to you,” he said.
Title Shot Within Reach
Despite having limited fights remaining in his career, Whittaker has set his sights on capturing the UFC light heavyweight championship. He believes the current state of the division provides an opportunity for a quick path to a title shot.
“I think at light heavyweight, especially with [Alex] Pereira moving out, and guys getting injured, there’s just been a shuffle of names in the division. It’s rife with opportunity,” Whittaker said. “Literally, I could be one good performance away from fighting for the title.”
The victory over Krylov snapped Whittaker’s two-fight losing streak and proved he can compete at the heavier weight class. His successful light heavyweight debut opened new possibilities for the final chapter of his career.
Whittaker says he will continue fighting as long as he enjoys the sport. Once that enjoyment fades, he plans to give proper notice and schedule his farewell fight in Australia.
