Robert Whittaker explains why he believes he will retire at age 36: "I'll probably be ready to wrap this up"
Robert Whittaker recently opened up about his career longevity and explained why he believes he will be ready to retire from MMA at age-36. He noted that he won't put a definitive expiry date on his career, but it would be a likely time frame that he decides to hang up his gloves.
The former UFC middleweight champion will be turning 34-year-old on Dec. 20, and so it appears as though fans will still get another two years of 'Bobby Knuckles' bouts. He is currently the No.3 ranked middleweight and has been a fixture in the title picture for years, and so it is entirely possible that he earns another title shot before his career is over.
During his appearance on Submission Radio, the Australian brought up that retiring healthy is one of the factors in why he is targeting age-36 for retiring. Whittaker mentioned that he would be able to walk away from the sport while still being at a high level and ensure that he can pursue other opportunities outside of MMA. He said:
"I don't want to be fighting till I'm late in my years...I wanna leave myself enough time to get the best years out of me and still have a bunch of time to do whatever it is that I pursue after [my career]...I've been fighting for a long time. I think at [age] 36 I'll probably be ready to wrap this up. So, we'll see though...Every year is different." [11:36 - 12:08]
Check out the full interview with Robert Whittaker below:
Robert Whittaker discloses his goal before retiring
Robert Whittaker disclosed what goal he would like to accomplish before he retires from MMA and believes that his best is still yet to come.
During the aforementioned appearance, Whittaker noted that he is content with his career accomplishments, but mentioned that he would like to become a two-time UFC middleweight champion. He said:
"I've done a lot in this sport. I'm proud. I've really left no stone unturned and I still do believe that my best years are still ahead of me...There are goals that I'm yet to reach and I'm still pursuing those before I turn the page...That's it, I want to get the [middleweight] belt back. I want to get two-time [champion status], that's the plan." [12:46 - 14:10]
Check out the UFC's promo for Robert Whittaker below: