"I wanna reclaim my belt" - Robert Whittaker aims to fight either Dricus du Plessis or Sean Strickland, lays out his preferred schedule and venue

Robert Whittaker recently delved into discussions about his potential opponents, outlining the preferred timeline for his return.

The former middleweight champion is fresh off a unanimous decision victory against Paulo Costa in the co-main event of UFC 298. Whittaker's resilience was tested when a late first-round high kick from Costa nearly knocked him out. However, he battled back, reaffirming his contender status in the 185-pound division.

'The Reaper' is pondering his comeback and has already envisioned some potential opponents. During a recent episode of the MMArcade Podcast, Whittaker revealed his desire for his next octagon appearance to either be a rematch against reigning champion Dricus du Plessis or a showdown against former titleholder Sean Strickland:

"I'm angling towards a goal, I wanna reclaim my belt. I would love to run it back with Dricus, especially cause he got the gold. But I do understand that Strickland is in line, like in the sights a little bit. Everyone's talking about him a lot; he's at the top, and that kind of gives me the path to the gold that I'm looking for."

He also expressed his eagerness to compete in the speculated event set to take place in his native Australia:

"But less than the opponents is the date that I'm after, and I want to fight in August. I heard that the UFC is potentially coming back to Australia in August. I have heard maybe in Perth."

Check out Robert Whittaker's comments below:

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Robert Whittaker acknowledges insufficient preparation for Dricus du Plessis bout

Robert Whittaker suffered a second-round stoppage loss to Dricus du Plessis at UFC 290 in July 2023. Last month, he admitted to mistakes in his training regimen leading up to that bout.

During an episode of the MMArcade Podcast in January, Whittaker disclosed that watching 'Stillknocks' claim the middleweight title from Sean Strickland at UFC 297 led him to identify a shortfall in his training for their bout. However, he's determined not to repeat the same error:

"Dricus du Plessis is on a list of people I want to rematch, but seeing that fight from him it made me realize that I did not prepare adequately for him. I did not give him the respect he deserved. I understood he was a hard and tough fighter, but I don't think I understood how tough and strong and hungry he really was, and respect that, I won't make that mistake again."

Check out Robert Whittaker's comments below (13:35):