Robert Whittaker appears to have no interest in a fight with Roman Dolidze.
The Georgian middleweight picked up the biggest win of his career over Marvin Vettori at UFC Vegas 104 on Saturday night.
During his post-fight interview, Roman Dolidze demanded a big matchup after winning a third UFC bout in a row.
Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker made up a two-man hitlist of potential opponents for his next Octagon outing.
READ MORE: ‘That’s it’… Marvin Vettori breaks his silence in emotional first statement after Roman Dolidze loss
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLCRobert Whittaker responds to Roman Dolidze’s call outWhittaker initially tried to avoid addressing Dolidze’s call out when he recapped UFC Vegas 104.
The former middleweight champion admitted to turning off the latest UFC main event when he realized that Dolidze and Vettori had settled into a rhythm that was ‘the same as their first fight’ at UFC 286 in March 2023.
After a little bit of a push, ‘The Reaper’ distanced himself from a potential clash with Dolidze.
“I’m trying to fight a top five guy, dude,” Whittaker said on MMArcade podcast.
“Join the queue. I wanna fight Sean [Strickland]. International Fight Week.”
Robert Whittaker wants Sean Strickland next UFC 317 will headline the promotion’s 13th annual International Fight Week this coming June.
Whittaker has already made it very clear that’s when he wants to face Sean Strickland in his first fight back since Khamzat Chimaev caved in his teeth with a rear naked choke at UFC 308 last October.
It’s currently unclear if June works for Strickland as the former middleweight champion is currently healing up after getting his nose obliterated during a five-round decision defeat against Dricus du Plessis at UFC 312 last month.
“I think Strickland makes a good argument to have because I feel like we’ve both been in that top sort of pond for a while circling each other,” Whittaker said. “For whatever reason, we haven’t been matched up but we’ve both been in proximity for a while.
“It’s most likely the fight to make, I’m excited about that fight. I look at his style and I find it curious. I find it exciting to try to work out.”
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