Robert Whittaker is the former UFC middleweight champion and the current No. 1 ranked middleweight in the UFC. Known as The Reaper, Whittaker was the winner of The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes welterweight tournament in 2012. Bobby Knuckles was the first Australian to win a championship in the UFC. Whittaker won the UFC middleweight title by defeating Yoel Romero at UFC 213.
In This Robert Whittaker Story…
Robert Whittaker Quick Facts
| Name: | Robert Whittaker |
| Age: | 32 |
| Date of Birth: | December 20, 1990 |
| Place of Birth: | Otahuhu, Auckland, New Zealand |
| Nationality: | Australian |
| Height: | 182.99 cm ( 6 ft tall ) |
| Weight: | 83.9 kg (185 lbs ) |
| Reach: | 73 in |
| Fighting Stance: | Orthodox |
| Net Worth: | $3 million |
| Last Fight Purse: | $600,000 ( purse for UFC 271) |
| Instagram: | @robwhittkermma 1.2m followers |
| Twitter: | @robwhittakermma 383.3k followers |
Robert Whittaker Record
Robert Whittaker has a record of 24-6 with 9 knockouts and 5 submission victories. Whittaker had a 9-2 record when he joined the UFC. He went 2-2 in his first four UFC assignments before winning nine consecutive bouts. Whittaker lost to Israel Adesanya via knockout at UFC 243.
He is tied with Yoel Romero and Israel Adesanya as of June 12, 2023, with 8 post-fight bonuses earned in the UFC’s middleweight division, including Fight of the Night five times.
Robert Whittaker Stats
Below are Robert Whittaker’s fight stats per ufcstats.com:
- Significant Strikes landed per 15 minutes: 4.48
- Significant Striking Accuracy: 42%
- Significant Strikes Absorbed per minute: 3.26
- Significant Striking Defense: 61%
- Average Takedowns Lander per 15 minutes: 0.82
- Takedown accuracy: 37%
- Takedown Defense: 84%
- Average Submissions attempted per 15 minutes: 0.0
Robert Whittaker Early Career
At the age of 7, his father enrolled him in a karate school for self-defense. After he got his black belt, Whittaker said his father offered him to train in another discipline – Hapkido. But soon, the gym where he trained was converted into an MMA gym and so he also learned MMA. By 2008, he signed with Australia’s Xtreme Fighting Championships.
But with the uncertainties of an MMA career and its meager pay, Whittaker worked as an apprentice electrician at Railcorp while trying to establish himself as a fighter. Whittaker put his day job on hold when he got a call to join the TUF: The Smashes Tournament in 2012. He won the competition and the rest is history.
Five months after being crowned the TUF winner, Whittaker got the call to make his debut at UFC 160. Upon hearing the news, Bobby Knuckles was beyond happy:
To get this news is unbelievable, dumbfounding,’’ Whittaker said. “Before The Ultimate Fighter, I was appearing before a couple of hundred people at most. Now I’m on the card of a Las Vegas blockbuster . . . this is every Australian fighter’s dream.”
Whittaker added:
“Right now, the Railcorp job is on hold and I’m just throwing everything into becoming a professional fighter. I just want to get over there and absorb it, learn it then conquer it.”
Of course, he ended up giving up being an electrician:
Robert Whittaker vs Israel Adesanya
Whittaker’s second title defense would be against New Zealand’s Israel Adesanya. The pair would be booked to headline UFC 243 at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was billed as the ‘biggest fight in Australian history’ by the UFC.
The pay-per-view event drew 57,127 fans, giving it the record for the highest live attendance for a UFC event, breaking the previous mark of 56,124 set by UFC 193 which was headlined by Holly Holm’s KO win over Ronda Rousey.
In that bout, Whittaker had his moments but the fight belonged to Adesanya. After dropping Whittaker just before the end of round one, the Last Stylebender figured out The Reaper in the second round.
Adesanya dropped Whittaker with a right hook-left hook combination and then finished him off with ground strikes to emerge with a second-round KO win while taking Whittaker’s title. The loss was Whittaker’s first since 2014 when he was still a welterweight.
Two years after the loss, Whittaker revealed why he performed so poorly in that match:
“I got in my own head so much and I had so much grudge towards him and gripe that I wore myself out,” Whittaker said on The MMA Hour via mmafighting.com. “I had so much anger and hate, and I wore myself out. It got tiring being angry at him and for no real reason. It’s not like he came to my house and stole my TV.”
Robert Whittaker vs Israel Adesanya 2
Whittaker then racked up three straight wins over Darren Till, Jared Cannonier, and Kelvin Gastelum to earn another crack at the middleweight belt which was still Adesanya’s property. The Last Stylebender went 3-1 after their first bout, with his loss coming at the hands of then 205-pound champion Jan Blachowicz in a failed attempt to become a two-division champion at UFC 259.
And so the rematch was set for UFC 271 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas on February 12, 2022. There was no knockout the second time around. But just like in their first bout, Adesanya also left no doubt as to who is better. The Last Stylebender won via unanimous decision with scores of 48-47,48-47, and 49-46.
Adesanya’s leg kicks were the key to winning the bout as they not only slowed down Whittaker but it also produced 29 strikes for the champion. With a massive reach advantage, Adesanya was content to fight from a distance as he outlander the shorter Whittaker 77-54 in significant strikes landed from a distance. Overall, Izzy outlanded Bobby Knuckles 79-59 in total significant strikes landed.
Immediately after the bout, Whittaker said he thought he won:
“I started off rocky in the first, but I felt I won every round after that,” Whittaker said. “It is what it is. I’m happy that I fought my heart out and left it all out there.”
Robert Whittaker Next Fight
Seven months after losing a second time to Adesanya, Whittaker bounced back to defeat Marvin Vettori via unanimous decision at UFC on ESPN + 67. It was rumored that Whittaker would face Brazil’s Paulo Costa at UFC 284. But Costa refuted the rumors by saying he did not sign a contract to fight Whittaker.
In May 2023, the UFC announced that Whittaker will be facing No.6 ranked Dricus Du Plessis in a middleweight title eliminator at UFC 290 on July 8, 2023, in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A.
Many expected Du Plessis to be Adesanya’s next challenger after scored a TKO win over Derek Brunson at UFC 285 last March 4th. Du Plessis is 5-0 with four stoppages since joining the UFC. But such will not be the case. The newcomer will have to go through the Reaper to earn a title shot. Meanwhile, a win by Whittaker will give him a third shot at Adesanya.
Robert Whittaker Personal Life
Robert Whittaker was born to an Australian father and a Maori mother. His father Jack and mom Jewel separated in 2000. Robert and his brother Stevan went to live with Jack in the Sydney suburb of Menai so he was basically raised by a single dad.
At the age of 18, Jack got Rob his first tattoo – the southern cross, which he taps during fights for a reason. Per Whittaker:
“My father got me that tattoo when I was 18. And I always tap my chest to show that whether he’s in the crowd or the stands or at home, it’s a way for him to know that I’m thinking of him. It’s my way to show him that I know he’s watching.”
Robert Whittaker got married in 2014. Whittaker’s wife Sophia studied at St. John Bosco College and took up Exercise and Health Sciences from Australian Catholic University. Sophia worked as an Assistant Store Manager at Australian Sports Nutrition (ASN) until 2016 but with Rob now owning a gym called Robert Whittaker MMA. She is also busy juggling her duties as a mom to four kids – John, Jack, Jace, and the couple’s only girl Lilliana.
In 2019, Whittaker was asked by complex.com about what he wanted his legacy to be. This was Rob’s reply:
“I just want to be a good husband, good father … that’s it. I wanna say good fighter but, honestly, if it came to being a good husband and father or a good fighter, I’d pick the husband and father. I’m gonna pick my family every day of the week, I don’t care about fighting that much. It’s one of those things. I want to make sure my family is happy and looked after. My legacy is my kids. If they grow up to be decent human beings, I did alright.”
Robert Whittaker Net Worth
Both essentiallysports.com and celebritynetworth.com list Robert Whittaker’s net worth at $3 million. Meanwhile, allfamousbirthday.com says that The Reaper is worth $5 million while mmasalaries.com puts his net worth at 5 to 6 million US dollars.
Whittaker has endorsement deals with Musashi Nutrition, Kaplan Homes, and Sweatcentral. He also sells apparel at robertwhittaker.co and was a band ambassador for Mercedes-Benz Sydney.
According to sportskeeda.com, Whittaker made a total of $632,000 for his rematch with Israel Adesanya at UFC 271. The amount is broken down as $600,000 guaranteed fight purse and $32,000 sponsorship money. There is no online source that lists how much the Reaper made for his most recent UFC appearance against Marvin Vettori.
Robert Whittaker Car
In 2017, Whittaker was named a brand ambassador of Mercedes-Benz Sydney and was given a 2017 Mercedes-AMG SLC43 for endorsing the dealership. Two years later, Whittaker posted a photo of himself standing beside a 2019 BMW M3:
Whittaker’s partnership with Macarthur BMW also saw him drive a BMW M2 in 2019: