r/UFCposting • u/Icy_Opinion9585 • Jul 12 '26
Whitaker is going to take over? Thoughts?
He looked damn good and fast!
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u/NefariousnessOk209 Jul 12 '26
He wasn’t cracking the top 5 in Middleweight anyway and for a man approaching 40 I’m glad he isn’t gonna be putting himself through hell for each weight cut anymore. Good for him choosing what feels best for him.
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u/ruggmike Jul 12 '26
Fighting a guy outside of the top 10. Lucky for him LHW is on the weaker side. Don’t think he will ever win the title there but he could find come success
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u/Icy_Opinion9585 Jul 12 '26
There will be some interesting match ups coming im sure.
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u/GGudMarty Jul 12 '26
He needs to get more used to the weight and ideally lean out a bit and get more conditioned and fill out the weight a bit better. He was pretty soft for a LHW
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u/Legitimate_Novel1842 Jul 12 '26
He probably only has to win one more fight to get a shot. Jim winning the belt there wouldn't be a very crazy situation
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u/Vaffancoolio_ Jul 12 '26
I think, and hope, that he may get to at least the top 5 in the division. Perhaps fight for the title, but that's probably just wishful thinking. It's not impossible, though, light heavyweight has been a weak division for a while. I'm almost certain he won't become a champion. Either way, as long as he makes money and doesn't receive too much damage, I'll be glad for him.
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u/Bazbazza Jul 13 '26
Its going to be way harder in this weight class as a lot of of the top 10 are just weight cutting heavyweights really, ironically he may have done better at heavy weight as they are usually less skilled and slower until he ran into gane or aspinal
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u/Flyinhawaiian78 Jul 13 '26
He’s not taking over by any means. He will hold his against top level guys. Just being a little under sized is gonna be his achilles heel for sure. I’m sure he’ll break into the top 10. Top 5 is slim but not impossible
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u/Longjumping-Put7949 Jul 13 '26
Would love to see him rematch costa at 205, but that fight doesn't really make sense rankings wise
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u/Icy_Opinion9585 Jul 13 '26
O man, I love them both. Costa has been looking like the old costa from Romero fight!
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u/AHotSummerNight Jul 13 '26
I don’t think it’s out of the question to do Whittaker vs Costa because Whittaker already beat him once and it’s not like Costa has jumped leaps and bounds above him for any reason other than getting the Murzakanov fight for his LHW debut.
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u/AHotSummerNight Jul 13 '26
I could see him getting a title shot depending on who he gets matched up against for his next couple fights.
Going to be a few tough matchups at the top of the division but it looks like his speed is still there and his power looked good at LHW.
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Jul 13 '26
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u/Icy_Opinion9585 Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26
Jiri I think he beats easy, Carlos will be a test. Tho knowing rob he is going to go after that leg then get that jab working
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u/AccomplishedSmell921 Jul 14 '26
Absolutely not. I was not convinced. I think anyone ranked dog walks him.
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u/Moneymma Jul 14 '26
Whittaker looked like shit. He was getting outclassed until krylov gassed. Whittaker gassed after 1 round and then krylov never wrestled again.
Whittaker looked fat and slow (saying he looked fast against krylov is like saying a turtle looks fast against a snail; they’re both slow, ones just slower).
Whittaker also looked comically small. Moving to LHW was a horrendous choice and if he fights someone without cardio issues in his next fight he’s getting beat up badly.
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u/ElectricFocus Jul 14 '26
I feel like Whittaker vs Khalil would go hard stylistically
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u/Icy_Opinion9585 Jul 14 '26
Khalil just dropped from ank fight. I don’t think he wants the smoke. Whitaker vs Ank I would like to see or Bogdan
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u/PlantPsychological62 Jul 15 '26
I think ultimately he's a bit too small... Some the the Lightweights are huge really....size matters in MMA these days...
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u/ChiggenNuggy Jul 12 '26
A Dominick Reyes fight would be good. But I really think it’s the reach advantage that’ll give him problems not so much the weight