EXCLUSIVE: Robert Whittaker speaks about Australian UFC legacy ahead of comeback fight against Marvin Vettori
A decade ago, you'd be lucky to see an Australian on a UFC card at all.
Robert Whittaker changed all of that.
Since his debut in the sport's top promotion back in 2012, he went from reality TV winner, to scrappy welterweight, to one of the most dominant middleweights of all time.
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Whittaker's now decade-long tenure brought him international recognition, title shots, gold belts and the respect of the entire MMA community.
"I'd like to think I had an impact in the sport at the time," he told Wide World of Sports.
"Definitely bringing a lot of light to MMA down under, as well as bringing the UFC and the spotlight to our country - which only threw more money into the sport, opening up more gyms, brought more eyes to the sport.
Robert Whittaker before his second fight against Israel Adesanya. Getty
"I'm very proud of the effect and the impact that I had, I guess, leading the way."
But he's far from alone anymore. There's Australian or Kiwi fighters on UFC cards every other week, it seems, while Alexander Volkanovski was recently crowned the pound-for-pound best fighter on the planet.
"The world is just finally seeing 'wow, we have some high calibre athletes here'. Volk's the best in the world, pound-for-pound," Whittaker said.
"And then Bam Bam [Tai Tuivasa], he's headlining this card now. Australian MMA is out of control, and I don't see it slowing down anytime soon."
Whittaker was originally set to fight on the UFC's Singapore card in July, but an injury pushed that back - now he'll fight alongside fellow Australian Tai Tuivasa in Paris.
"All the skill sets I've been working on in camp since my last fight, I'm excited to try them," he said.
When pressed on specifics, he jokes that it's "a lot of punching and kicking".
"I'm just trying to get better, holistically. Every skill set across the board can be sharpened up," he added.
A win here likely puts Whittaker in the frame for a trilogy title fight against Israel Adesanya, but the champ, having won both of their first two match-ups, has previously said he's not particularly interested in running that back again.
And of course, the Australian has no doubts he could flip the script and win his title back.
"I think I can," he said.
"And you know what they say, third time's a charm."
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