Robert Whittaker: Mutual respect with Michael Bisping – but 'no mercy' in title-unifier

LAS VEGAS – Michael Bisping may have already begun his fight-hyping antics, but don’t expect Robert Whittaker to play along.

After a gritty, come-from-behind unanimous-decision win over Yoel Romero (12-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 213 pay-per-view headliner, Whittaker (19-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) was awarded the middleweight division’s interim belt. Which, at least for now, means he’s next in line to meet undisputed champ Michael Bisping (30-7 MMA, 20-7 UFC).

Bisping was at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena to witness the new champ’s crowning in the night’s substitute headliner. And, of course, he couldn’t leave without at least some theatrics – in this case, a rather puzzling belt throw. But if the champ has any plans of getting under Whittaker’s skin, he might be in for a frustrating ride.

“I haven’t gotten any bad vibes from Michael,” Whittaker said after UFC 213. “He hasn’t done anything crazy to try to get in my face. I think he respects me, as well. He is who he is. And he’s going to do what he’s going to do. And I’m just going to be me.

“I go into the fight with the same amount of respect for every athlete. And I’m going to be me in that fight. I’m going to be me on the media. Outside the fight, I’m going to be me. I’m going to be me, and he can work with that.”

At the end of the day, Whittaker gets that champ “Michael Bisping is Michael Bisping” – and what that means promotionally. And, as he made sure to state repeatedly on the chat with reporters, he holds a lot of respect for the division’s champ.

But? “We’re going to touch gloves now; it’s fate,” Whittaker said. “We have to fight now. And when we do, there’s going to be no mercy.”

As clear as the Bisping-Whittaker matchup seems to be now, it’s not like logic prevails whenever UFC belts are involved. Not that long ago it seemed pretty certain that ex-welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre would be the one fighting Bisping for the 185-pound title – despite the fact St-Pierre hasn’t set foot in the octagon since 2013.

But even after a full-blown press conference held to promote the bout, it fell apart when St-Pierre’s injury timeframe wouldn’t fit with Bisping’s plans. Romero was then slated as the title challenger. But, in yet another turn, it was Bisping who got hurt. Hence, the interim title that Whittaker now holds.

With so many twists and turns, Whittaker would be justified in not feeling 100 percent certain that he’s next for Bisping. But asked whether he still feared that St-Pierre might jump in line, the newly crowned champ didn’t seem all that fazed.

“At this point in time, I’m pretty sure Bisping and I are fated to fight,” Whittaker said. “We were supposed to fight at another time (Bisping pulled out of a scheduled UFC 193 appointment due to an injury), and it’s like snakes and ladders. I had to fight a lot of dudes to get back into that range. But now here I am again. And here we are again.

“We’re going to fight. What Bisping does, who he fights, that’s his own business. I’m taking everything one fight at a time. I’m worrying about me.”

That attitude has been working out well for Whittaker, who now holds not only the interim title, but a divisional-best eight-fight active winning streak. And he took no shortcuts to get there, having most recently taken down two of the  most notorious 185-pound boogeymen in both Romero and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza.

But unlike the Souza fight, which ran smoothly in route to a second-round TKO win for Whittaker, the Romero one took resilience. More specifically, it took overcoming a rough initial two rounds that the champ would credit, in his post-fight speech, to a bum knee that didn’t quite appreciate being stomped on early by Romero early.

Addressing the issue after the fight, Whittaker was careful not to make hasty conclusions about the extent of the damage. He did say that, apart from the knee, there are a few lingering little injuries that need dealing with. Which means a hypothetical return date for November, for instance, doesn’t seem that likely. But he won’t commit to any diagnosis or timeframes before checking in with his doctors.

In fact, even though he did sustain the knee injury during camp, Whittaker at this point can’t even tell for sure whether or not it was healed walking into Saturday’s bout.

“It could’ve had an absolutely pristine knee – and then he stomped it, and then it wasn’t so pristine,” Whittaker said. “If it was good, it wasn’t after that.”

Regardless, fact is that Whittaker had to deal with the unexpected hurdle early on and re-route and come out on top in the following rounds. All the while, with a poker face. And though that certainly took a lot of his own guts, Whittaker credits his team for keeping his head in the game.

“In the first and second rounds it was hard to ignore, because it was fresh,” Whittaker said. “The injury was fresh and it hurt. With the adrenaline running in a fight, for something to hurt, you know it’s injured.

“But my corners – like I said a hundred times I have the best team in the world. They have me precise answers. They have me the cool, calm and collected focus that I needed. And I drew from that to really get over that hill in this fight.”

Whittaker has a UFC belt to show for his efforts. But it’s still an interim one – and, given the recent proliferation of them, it is bound to come with some level of skepticism. Bisping was, in fact, the first to discredit it – going as far as calling Whitaker a “fake” and a “poser.”

But there’s someone who’s not about to diminish the weight of the interim title – and it happens to be the one man who knows just how much effort went into getting it.

“I had to fight a five-round war with Yoel Romero,” Whittaker said. “I think if you fight a five-round war with Yoel Romero, you deserve a medal of your own. Because that dude is an absolute – he’s one of the most dangerous people on the planet. No one wants to fight him, and for good reason.

“I worked hard for that bit of shining medal there. And that what that is a symbol of: that I’m now the No. contender while the current champ is on the bench. I’m filling his seat at the moment. I’m taking on the headhunters. I’m taking on those killers. And I’m taking on the responsibility of being champion.”

To hear Whittaker’s full press conference, check out the video above.

And for complete coverage of UFC 213, check out the UFC Events section of the site.