Robert Whittaker shares hilarious reaction to Sean Strickland earning middleweight title shot after promising to sit out: "Everyone was laughing"
Robert Whittaker recently shared his hilarious reaction to Sean Strickland earning a middleweight title shot after promising to sit out and wait. The promotion officially announced that 'Tarzan' will challenge Dricus du Plessis for the middleweight championship in the main event of UFC 312 on Feb. 8 in Sydney, Australia.
Strickland earned his latest title shot after defeating Paulo Costa via split decision this past June. In addition, he will also have an opportunity to avenge his loss as du Plessis earned a split-decision win to dethrone him and become the new middleweight champion earlier this year.
The South African is riding high, especially considering he is coming off an impressive submission win over former champion Israel Adesanya in his first title defense.
During the latest episode of his MMArcade Podcast, 'The Reaper' shared his reaction after 'Tarzan' was announced as the next title challenger instead of Khamzat Chimaev:
"I'm surprised Sean [Strickland] literally just sat out. Everyone was laughing at him when he said, 'I'm gonna sit out until I get my title shot.' Dude straight-up got the title shot, props for that. Like, you got to give it to him. The guy straight-up stuck by what he said."
Check out Robert Whittaker's comments below (0:25):
Robert Whittaker discusses Khamzat Chimaev's wrestling
In addition to sharing his reaction to Sean Strickland being awarded a title shot against Dricus du Plessis, Robert Whittaker also shared what it was like dealing with Khamzat Chimaev's wrestling.
During the aforementioned episode, Whittaker, who most recently lost to Chimaev in dominant fashion, noted that 'Borz' is a dangerous opponent and mentioned that his wrestling is almost impossible to prepare for:
"I don't know. Stopping that first takedown is so crazy. The way he shoots in that first shot is crazy. How do you stop that dude? Jump over him... Yeah, dude, if I saw him coming, I would have. Like, he's not a hurdle." [4:52]
Check out Khamzat Chimaev's post-fight interview after defeating Robert Whittaker below: