"I'm going headhunting" - Robert Whittaker predicts knockout win over Paulo Costa

Robert Whittaker recently opened up about his upcoming bout against Paulo Costa. He shared his prediction for what will transpire when they meet inside the octagon next Saturday at UFC 298.

The former middleweight champion will be returning to the octagon for the first time since his TKO loss to current champion Dricus du Plessis this past July. While speaking to Fanatics View's James Lynch, Whittaker mentioned that he will be approaching the bout with a mindset of finishing Costa and intends to do so. He said:

"I'm gonna knock him out. I've got 15 minutes to find my hole, to find the weakness that I can exploit, and I'm going headhunting. I'm looking for it [knockout]."

'Borrachinha' will be competing for the first time since his unanimous decision win over Luke Rockhold at UFC 278 in Aug. 2022. He was initially scheduled to compete against Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294 but was forced to pull out of the fight due to a staph infection.

It will be interesting to see whether Whittaker can bounce back and finish Costa, and whether the lengthy layoff will have any impact on the Brazilian's performance.

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Robert Whittaker says he is content with his bout against Paulo Costa being three rounds

Robert Whittaker shared his thoughts on his upcoming bout against Paulo Costa at UFC 298 being contested as a three-round bout rather than a five-round bout.

During the aforementioned interview, the former middleweight champion noted that the preparation for the extra two rounds is much different. He mentioned that although a five-round bout would likely favor him, he is content with three rounds:

"I don't think you get paid more in a five round fight...I'm happy with three rounds. Five rounds is a different beast, I'm happy to fight five rounds. I've fought a lot of five-round fights and I don't know, five rounds probably play to my strengths a bit more, maybe. I don't know, we'll find out." [6:19 - 6:54]

Check out the full interview below: