Scouting Report: Robert Whittaker

Robert Whittaker

Born: December 20, 1990 (Age: 32) in Otahuhu, Auckland, New Zealand
Division: Middleweight
Height: 5' 11”
Reach: 73.5”
Record: 24-6
Association: PMA Super Martial Arts
Stage of Career: Prime

Summary: Whittaker has almost every quality one could want in a great martial arts champion. His main weapon is his striking, which is excellent in almost every regard. He begins with one of the better jabs in MMA and uses it to throw crisp, beautiful combinations, including a terrific left hook and overhand right. At close range, he has some of the best uppercuts in MMA. Furthermore, his kicks are just as great, whether to the legs, body, or head. He is also very dangerous in the clinch, with outstanding knees that can reach an opponent's head no matter how straight he stands. In the grappling, he has a quick, technical, and powerful shot and very good ground-and-pound, but it's not a consistent weapon since his top control is so limited. On the flipside, Whittaker has great takedown defense of his own and is masterful at getting back up, so his ground game has never been an exploitable weakness in recent memory. As if all that weren't enough, Whittaker has good cardio and manages his energy well over five rounds, possesses excellent recuperative powers that have saved him more than once, and shows terrific fight IQ. Whittaker crafts brilliant game plans, implements them precisely and finds ways to win—or at least gives himself the best chance to do so—against challenging foes, like the Jared Cannonier fight or his rematch with Israel Adesanya.

STRIKING

• Stance: Orthodox.
• Hand Speed: Slightly above average.
• Jab: One of the best in MMA. Very sudden, accurate, technical, and powerful.
• Cross: Average. Surprisingly, this may be his least impressive strike, as it's slightly telegraphed and he tends to fall forward into the punch too much, though it's otherwise a technical, hard blow.
• Left Hook: Very good; good rotation, arc, power, and nice speed, though it's lacking a little accuracy and is also a little telegraphed.
• Overhand Right: Great; similar properties to his left hook, except more accurate and sudden, though a little telegraphing is still present.
• Uppercuts: All-time great, some of the best in MMA; perfect technique, with tremendous power.
• Solitary Striker or Volume Puncher: Throws very crisp combinations.
• Favorite Combination(s): Loves to throw a left hook and overhand right in either order. A very fearsome combination if either blow lands, but it's a little telegraphed and can be countered, as Adesanya demonstrated in their first meeting.
• Leg Kicks: All-time great; very quick and powerful, both the traditional roundhouses as well as great sidekicks to the shin.
• Body Kicks: Great, with similar properties to the leg kicks, though he only throws the roundhouse version here.
• Head Kicks: Great, a very quick, sudden, and powerful blow, leading to knockouts against both Derek Brunson and Ronaldo Souza.
• Chains Kicks to Punches: Yes, and he does so very well.

Whittaker is a truly outstanding striker. He throws almost every strike very well, with his right cross being the lone exception. It all begins with a phenomenal jab, off of which Whittaker has many terrific power punches, whether it's his left hook, overhand right, or some of the best uppercuts I've ever seen in MMA. Moreover, he throws all his punches in crisp combinations. However, his feet are just as good, if not better, throwing wonderfully powerful, quick, and sudden kicks to the legs, body, and even head, through which he has recorded two huge knockout wins. I especially love that with his leg kicks, he not only attacks with the traditional roundhouse variant both with very nice sidekicks to the shins as well.

CLINCH

• Physical Strength: Excellent, able to hold his own and more against the biggest, most powerful grapplers at middleweight.
• Technique: Very good, with highly technical grappling.
• Knees: Great; not only are they very powerful but can accurately reach the head even when the opponent is standing straight up.
• Elbows: Rarely throws them.
• Defense Against Knees/Elbows: Great.

Whittaker is very dangerous in the clinch, whether it's using his wrestling to take opponents down or land crushing, highly accurate knees. It is an area almost every opponent will want to avoid against him.

GRAPPLING

• Wrestling from a Shot: Excellent, a quick, dynamic, powerful shot that has taken many opponents down and even gave Romero some trouble, though he ultimately defended against it.
• Wrestling in the Clinch: Very good, able to grind for outside trips and double-legs very well.
• Takedown Defense: Great; exceedingly hard to take down, and it's been a long time since an opponent has even tried.
• Ability to Return to Feet: Great; gets back up almost instantly after being taken down, usually through hip-escapes, but is great at using the cage, too.
• Submissions: Almost non-existent at his current level. Has never submitted a single opponent in the UFC and very rarely goes for submissions.
• Defense/Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from the Bottom: Hard to say since it's been such a long time and Whittaker has improved so much since the last time he was on the bottom for long.
• Top Control: Very limited. Even Darren Till was able to stand back up relatively quickly against Whittaker. Doesn't control either the hips or wrists well.
• Ground-and-Pound: Very good; going body to head nicely and throwing meaningful, hard punches using his body at a steady rate of fire, as well as accurate, hard elbows.
Whittaker is an excellent grappler overall. Offensively, he has a very nice shot that gets many opponents down. He also has very good, effective ground-and-pound. However, this isn't too consistent of a weapon for him since he severely lacks top control, with most foes getting up against him after a time. However, he is superb defensively, being immensely difficult to take down, and getting up almost immediately each time. Thus, Whittaker is almost never at an exploitable disadvantage in the grappling.

INTANGIBLES

• Athleticism/General Physical Strength: Excellent; a very strong, athletic fighter.
• Cardio: At least good; fights at a deliberate pace, but only slowing down slightly at the end of five rounds.
• Chin: Good, though he has been knocked down and even very badly hurt by big, flush connects.
• Recuperative Powers: Excellent, surviving after being in serious trouble multiple times against Romero, Till, and Cannonier, among other huge punchers.
• Intelligence: All-time great, crafting excellent gameplans to defeat opponents and finding ways to win.