The Robert Whittaker vs Paulo Costa fight is yet to be made official for UFC 284, but the former UFC middleweight champion is confident enough to see himself emerging victorious over his 185-pound adversary.
Skill-wise I’m better than Paulo across the board: Robert Whittaker
Even though Costa himself has claimed stated that there is still no signed contract for the fight against Whittaker at UFC 284, which takes place on 11th February 11 next year in Perth, the fight is one that is highly anticipated among the fans.
While making a recent appearance on Submission Radio, the fight was brought up for discussion, with Whittaker giving his two cents on how he will be going into the matchup against the Brazilian.
Whittaker had two fights this year, first with a loss to Israel Adesanya, the reigning middleweight champion, and then a win over Marvin Vettori. Even though he was defeated by the division’s belt holder for the second time, the fighter said he believed he was the best in the division.
“I think he’s a tough guy, and I’m taking this fight with all the respect that I do every other fight,” said Whittaker. “I’m gonna go in there in February the best version of myself, and I think the best version of myself is better than everybody else in the division. I think skill-wise I’m better than Paulo across the board. He probably benches more than me. But my bench isn’t crazy anyway.”
“He’s very well-rounded. He’s a very, very well-rounded fighter, and obviously, he’s an athlete, a specimen. He’s got a lot of power, torque and explosiveness. But, I’d like to think I’m all of those things as well, and better,” the Aussie went on about Costa, “I just think I’m better. Flat better. And I’m going to train my everything that I have over the next 17 weeks to put him away.”
When asked about Costa’s last outing in the Octagon, in which the Brazilian beat Luke Rockhold, at UFC 278 in August, ‘Bobby Knuckles’ did his analysis.
“Rockhold having landed effective blows was no surprise, but he himself said he didn’t want to be there. And Paulo still suffered. He was being hit, he had a lot of openings, a lot of holes. The performance wasn’t good, but it wasn’t bad either,” added Whittaker.
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