Robert Whittaker blown away by Esteban Ribovics' "arm-cardio" at UFC 306: "Unloaded like 300 punches in the space of thirty seconds"
Robert Whittaker praised Esteban Ribovics' ability to throw punches relentlessly, with no apparent signs of fatigue. Ribovics defeated Daniel Zellhuber by split decision in a closely contested fight at Noche UFC 306.
After a close striking battle for the first two rounds, Zellhuber dropped Ribovics with an intercepting elbow in Round 3. The knockdown appeared to have swung the momentum in the Mexican's favor but Ribovics put him on wobbly legs with a stinging right hand and followed up with a barrage of strikes.
To his credit, Zellhuber survived the onslaught and made it to the final bell despite being hurt several times. According to the fight statistics, Ribovics landed a staggering 92 significant strikes in the third round alone.
Reacting to the fight in a recent episode of the MMArcade Podcast, Whittaker said:
"I want to ask another question... Ribovics, what does he do for arm-cardio? Because the guy unloaded, like, 300 punches in the space of 30 seconds and had the gas to still continue fighting. Normally, you see a guy deliver his payload and not come up with spades and then have to retreat, reverse, while breathing hard. [Ribovics] could throw forever. His volume was wild, dude."
Ribovics vs. Zellhuber was declared the Fight of the Night and both men walked away with an additional $50,000 bonus for their efforts. Speaking further, Whittaker gave props to Zellhuber and the referees who officiated at Noche UFC 306:
"Zellhuber deserves [Fight of the Night] way more. How is he not dead? I will give it to the refs tonight. They did such a good job tonight on not calling fights early."
Check out Robert Whittaker's comments below (23:15):
Robert Whittaker talks about Esteban Ribovics walking out to the same song as him at Noche UFC 306
Robert Whittaker has walked out to Roy Jones Jr.'s 'Can't Be Touched' for the majority of his UFC career. At Noche UFC 306, Esteban Ribovics walked out to the same song. Speaking further in the aforementioned episode of the MMArcade Podcast, Whittaker said:
"Ribovics walks out to my song, which I can only take as a good luck sign, a good omen. As soon as I heard the music and I saw him, I was like, 'I've got a good feeling about this.' It was sick. It was the fight of the night and obviously one of the better fights of the year." [24:17]