Robert Whittaker shares a piece of advice for Tai Tuivasa who is on a five-fight skid
Even being one of the biggest stars of the UFC heavyweight division, Tai Tuivasa's career is in jeopardy with five straight losses. With his future in limbo, former champion Robert Whittaker offered his fellow Aussie a word of advice.
Whittaker reacted to Tuivasa's loss to Jairzinho Rozenstruik at UFC 305 on the MMArcade Podcast, saying he believes 'Bam Bam' needs to take some time away from the Octagon. 'The Reaper' believes that at 31, Tuivasa still has time to salvage his career, even with his current skid.
Whittaker said:
"Tai is pretty young still. I think Tai needs to step back from the game for a little bit. Assess the situation and just work on his craft. He's got the power, he just needs to sharpen his skill set to get around dudes like Rozenstruik."
In February 2022, Tuivasa knocked out Derrick Lewis to rise all the way to No. 3 in the UFC heavyweight rankings and on the fringe of title contention. Since then, he has gone on to lose four of the five fights of his current losing streak inside the distance before uncharacteristically fighting Rozenstruik to an unexciting 15-minute decision.
Watch the full video from MMArcade Podcast on YouTube below:
Robert Whittaker speaks on the middleweight title picture following UFC 305
Before giving his thoughts on Tai Tuivasa and the heavyweight division, Robert Whittaker touched on the UFC 305 main event headlined by the middleweight title fight between Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya. As a factor in the current title picture, Whittaker said he believes he is next in line should he beat Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 308.
Whittaker said:
"I'm locked in to fighting [Khamzat] Chimaev. The goal's pretty simple: beat Chimaev, fight Dricus, beat Dricus... I gotta stay locked in [on Chimaev right now]. I gotta stay on task and I'll see where the cards fall afterwards."
Whittaker already has a TKO loss to Du Plessis on his record at UFC 290 but 'The Reaper' was singled out by the champion as the fighter he believes is the most worthy next title challenger. Sean Strickland was given confirmation from UFC CEO Dana White as the next opponent of Du Plessis but the immediate future of the division likely depends on the outcome of Whittaker and Chimaev's matchup in October.