UFC star stuns fans by suggesting he might move up to Alex Pereira's weight class

Fans might see former UFC middleweight titleholder Robert Whittaker test himself in a new weight class the next time he returns to the Octagon.

A member of the UFC roster since winning The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes in 2012, Whittaker currently finds himself at a bit of a career crossroads after suffering back-to-back losses for the very first time.

“The Reaper” has only fought the very best fighters that the middleweight division has to offer for the better part of 10 years at this point, but there’s still been no real news of when Whittaker intends to return to the cage to try and end his losing skid.

Robert Whittaker Considering Move To Light Heavyweight

Speaking on a recent episode of his MMArcade Podcast (h/t Home of Fight), Whittaker revealed that he’s strongly considering a move up to the light heavyweight division for the next stage of his fighting career.

“I want to get back in there next year,” Whittaker said. “I don’t know how I want to do it…Wanna get in there probably about mid next year. I don’t know if it will be at middleweight. I’m actually playing with the idea [of light heavyweight].”

Robert Whittaker fights against Paulo Costa during UFC 298 at Honda Center. | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Whittaker actually won TUF as a welterweight and competed at 170 lbs. during the early part of his UFC career. Following a win over Mike Rhodes in 2014, the 35-year-old moved up to middleweight and put together a lengthy win streak that saw him win the division’s interim belt and get promoted to undisputed champion before he fell to Israel Adesanya at UFC 243.

"Everyone's Got Height On Me Anyway"

A 15-pound jump from welterweight to middleweight is already sizeable, but Whittaker seems to be quite serious about the idea of making another 20-pound jump to compete in a light heavyweight division that's currently ruled by Alex Pereira.

Alex Pereira (blue gloves) reacts after the fight against Magomed Ankalaev (red gloves) during UFC 320 at T-Mobile Arena. | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

“I’m a bigger guy now. And everyone is gonna say ‘Oh he’s too short, he’s too short.’ They’re taller than me here, what’s the difference? Everyone’s got height on me anyway, everyone’s got reach on me anyway. What’s the difference? Might as well just try something else.”

Outside of a contentious split decision loss to former two-division ONE Championship titleholder Reinier de Ridder in his most recent outing, Whittaker’s only middleweight losses have come to current or future UFC champions Adesanya (twice), Dricus du Plessis, and Khamzat Chimaev.

Khamzat Chimaev submitted Robert Whittaker in his last fight before he won the UFC middleweight belt. | Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

A second-round stoppage of “The Reaper” was Du Plessis’ last victory before he took the UFC middleweight belt from Sean Strickland at UFC 297, and Chimaev also famously broke Whittaker’s jaw at UFC 308 and went on to extend his undefeated record and unseat Du Plessis at UFC 319 last August.

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