Robert Whittaker shares his thoughts on newly crowned UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira: “Did you see the size of the fella?”

By Harry Kettle - November 16, 2022

Robert Whittaker has commented on the sheer size of Alex Pereira after his win over Israel Adesanya at UFC 281.

Robert Whittaker

While he may have Paulo Costa on the horizon at UFC 284, you can bet Robert Whittaker is thinking about the UFC middleweight championship.

He’s a former champ himself and, in the division, has only been beaten by Israel Adesanya.

Last Saturday night, things took a pretty interesting turn as ‘Stylebender’ was TKO’d by his rival Alex Pereira at UFC 281.

It opens up the top 15 and, in many ways, offers up a great opportunity to Whittaker.

During a press conference for UFC 284, Bobby Knuckles opened up on his chances in that potential match-up.

“As I said before, I’m not planning past Costa. But, I can say that I think Pereira is a better match-up for me than Israel, just because of the way he stands and the way he likes to push forward. The way he likes to fight, I feel, gives me the edge. But, in saying that, did you see the size of the fella? Like, why is nobody mentioning that?! The dude is giant, he’s an absolute giant.

Whittaker’s big step

“I’ve been face to face with Israel and it’s surprising to see. Israel is pretty big. He looks tall and lanky but he’s actually a big dude, and then you see Pereira up against him, and just his facial features are bigger. His feet, hands and forearms are massive! I’m just thinking, who let this guy in?! But, I still think I can take him.”

The encounter between Whittaker and Costa will go down on February 12 in Australia.

Do you think Robert Whittaker would be the favourite against Alex Pereira? Do you expect to see him get past Paulo Costa next year? Let us know in the comments, BJPENN Nation!


Topics:

Alex Pereira Israel Adesanya Robert Whittaker UFC