The Film Room: Robert Whittaker
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Robert Whittaker returns to the Octagon Saturday for the first time in eight months to defend his middleweight title against rising contender Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 234. Whittaker joined the UFC in 2012 and went a lackluster 2-2 to start his UFC career, including a loss to Stephen Thompson in 2014. Since that loss and a move up to middleweight, Whittaker has gone 9-0 with wins over Derek Brunson, Ronoldo Souza and Yoel Romero (twice). At 28 years-old he is already one of the greatest middleweights to ever step inside the cage.
Whittaker’s style carries plenty of intrigue, as he mixes classic boxing techniques with his Goju-Ryu karate background and philosophies. He keeps his lead hand low like a karateka, but turns in his lead shoulder and feet to acquire a “Philly Shell”-like stance. The low lead hand allows his punches to come in at odd angles while being ready to grab an underhook to defend takedowns. They key to Whittaker’s leading attacks is his pacing and ability to cover distance quickly, which comes from his karate days. Against “Jacare,” Whittaker was able to defend the takedowns and keep pushing forward, which had Jacare gassed and flustered after one round. Something to notice about his leading attacks is how he mixes in his technical prowess with wild power shots and exchanges in the pocket that makes him all the more unpredictable.
Recently Whittaker has been displaying these T.J. Dillashaw-style angle strikes. Being able to take a dominant angle to set up your strikes is one of the most important aspects of fighting, but not many people strike while taking the angle. Generally, a fighter will take a step outside of the opponent’s guard and then throw a strike. Notice how Whittaker is already taking the angle while throwing the strike to further confuse the opponent. It does look a bit sloppy and can put you out of position to defend, but it is a tricky way to land some offense that most opponents aren’t expecting.
Another very clever trick Whittaker uses to set up his attacks are these front kicks and teeps. In the first fight with Romero, Whittaker routinely threw a front kick to get inside Romero’s guard where he could land a quick combo. Notice how most of the front kicks aren’t thrown with the intention of landing them and he’s just using them to confuse the opponent before stepping in with a combo. He uses the front kick like most fighters use their jab; to set up combos, and as a counter to stifle the opponents leading attacks. His go-to combo is a rear front kick into a southpaw stance before throwing a left hook. He used this combo to defeat Brad Tavares and dropped Jacare with it.
Along with the front attacks comes these sidekicks to the thighs and knees. In the first right with Romero, Whittaker’s knee was injured with one of these, and in the rematch, he returned the favor. Not only are these kicks the perfect set up for your boxing, but they also severely limit the opponent’s movement and can be very damaging, although they don’t look like much.
Whittaker can be a hard fighter to read as he doesn't throw many of the same combos over and over, but something he does throw in nearly every fight is this dipping head kick, again reminiscent of Dillashaw. Notice how Whittaker will dip far to his left when throwing the high kick. This is a rhythm-manipulating strike that relies on the opponent’s timing to land. Once Whittaker's upper body is bent to the left the opponent is expecting the kick to already be at its target. But Whittaker dips to his left and swings the leg over just a second slower than usual which can catch opponents as they drop their guard from the odd timing.
Although Whittaker is capable of putting on a striking masterclass, the most impressive aspect of his game to me is his takedown defense. Against Jacare, Whittaker was able to defend all but one takedown which he popped right up from. And in both fights with Romero, Whittaker defended 21 of 28 takedowns even with an injured knee in the first fight. Even when he is taken down he has shown he can quickly get to his feet and if Romero and Jacare can't hold him, down I doubt anybody will.
Robert Whittaker returns to the Octagon Saturday for the first time in eight months to defend his middleweight title against rising contender Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 234. Whittaker joined the UFC in 2012 and went a lackluster 2-2 to start his UFC career, including a loss to Stephen Thompson in 2014. Since that loss and a move up to middleweight, Whittaker has gone 9-0 with wins over Derek Brunson, Ronoldo Souza and Yoel Romero (twice). At 28 years-old he is already one of the greatest middleweights to ever step inside the cage.
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Whittaker’s style carries plenty of intrigue, as he mixes classic boxing techniques with his Goju-Ryu karate background and philosophies. He keeps his lead hand low like a karateka, but turns in his lead shoulder and feet to acquire a “Philly Shell”-like stance. The low lead hand allows his punches to come in at odd angles while being ready to grab an underhook to defend takedowns. They key to Whittaker’s leading attacks is his pacing and ability to cover distance quickly, which comes from his karate days. Against “Jacare,” Whittaker was able to defend the takedowns and keep pushing forward, which had Jacare gassed and flustered after one round. Something to notice about his leading attacks is how he mixes in his technical prowess with wild power shots and exchanges in the pocket that makes him all the more unpredictable.
Recently Whittaker has been displaying these T.J. Dillashaw-style angle strikes. Being able to take a dominant angle to set up your strikes is one of the most important aspects of fighting, but not many people strike while taking the angle. Generally, a fighter will take a step outside of the opponent’s guard and then throw a strike. Notice how Whittaker is already taking the angle while throwing the strike to further confuse the opponent. It does look a bit sloppy and can put you out of position to defend, but it is a tricky way to land some offense that most opponents aren’t expecting.
Another very clever trick Whittaker uses to set up his attacks are these front kicks and teeps. In the first fight with Romero, Whittaker routinely threw a front kick to get inside Romero’s guard where he could land a quick combo. Notice how most of the front kicks aren’t thrown with the intention of landing them and he’s just using them to confuse the opponent before stepping in with a combo. He uses the front kick like most fighters use their jab; to set up combos, and as a counter to stifle the opponents leading attacks. His go-to combo is a rear front kick into a southpaw stance before throwing a left hook. He used this combo to defeat Brad Tavares and dropped Jacare with it.
Along with the front attacks comes these sidekicks to the thighs and knees. In the first right with Romero, Whittaker’s knee was injured with one of these, and in the rematch, he returned the favor. Not only are these kicks the perfect set up for your boxing, but they also severely limit the opponent’s movement and can be very damaging, although they don’t look like much.
Whittaker can be a hard fighter to read as he doesn't throw many of the same combos over and over, but something he does throw in nearly every fight is this dipping head kick, again reminiscent of Dillashaw. Notice how Whittaker will dip far to his left when throwing the high kick. This is a rhythm-manipulating strike that relies on the opponent’s timing to land. Once Whittaker's upper body is bent to the left the opponent is expecting the kick to already be at its target. But Whittaker dips to his left and swings the leg over just a second slower than usual which can catch opponents as they drop their guard from the odd timing.
Although Whittaker is capable of putting on a striking masterclass, the most impressive aspect of his game to me is his takedown defense. Against Jacare, Whittaker was able to defend all but one takedown which he popped right up from. And in both fights with Romero, Whittaker defended 21 of 28 takedowns even with an injured knee in the first fight. Even when he is taken down he has shown he can quickly get to his feet and if Romero and Jacare can't hold him, down I doubt anybody will.
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