Robert Whittaker went looking for a fight in his hometown country and kept hearing no. The former UFC middleweight champion said several opponents passed on a matchup with him before Bogdan Guskov agreed to take it, a bout that will put Whittaker in the Octagon in Sydney for the first time in 12 years.
Ariel Helwani shared Whittaker’s comments on X on Monday, and Whittaker sounded more amused than bitter about the process.
“I actually wanted to get in there sooner... We threw out the fight to a bunch of other guys, and they turned it down,” Whittaker said.
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Eventually the call came back with a name attached. Whittaker said he was told, “Hey, Bogdan wants to get in Sydney next year,” and his answer was immediate: “Hell yeah.”
Whittaker didn’t say who the other fighters were, and nobody has publicly owned up to declining. So the list stays a mystery for now.
Back where it started
The Sydney part carries real weight for Whittaker. He told Helwani he hasn’t fought in Sydney in 12 years, and that his last fight there was his middleweight debut. He added that the long wait to get back there worked out better in a way.
That debut opened the run that eventually made him champion, a reign that ended when Israel Adesanya knocked him out in the first round to become undisputed champion. Adesanya, for what it’s worth, is busy with his own comeback. He headlines UFC Saudi Arabia on December 5 against Shara Magomedov, still looking for his first win since April 2023.
Guskov comes in off a hard night
Guskov’s willingness to say yes stands out given where he is coming from. His last outing was in July at UFC Abu Dhabi, where Magomed Ankalaev stopped him with a fifth-round TKO. Before that, Guskov handed Billy Elekana a loss in Elekana’s UFC debut back in January 2025. Elekana has gone 3-1 since, which makes that win look better with time.
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There’s a funny echo in all this. The same Monday Whittaker was describing a string of rejections, Ankalaev, the man who last beat Guskov, was on X complaining that nobody in the light heavyweight top five would fight him. He listed Khalil Rountree as not ready, Dominick Reyes as injured, and Paulo Costa as wanting $10 million, then floated a move to heavyweight for January. Heavy.com reported, citing sources, that the UFC wants Ankalaev to headline UFC Dallas on January 16. Opponent shortages seem to be going around.
Whittaker was in a looser mood on the Helwani Show, where he also confessed he’d become a fan of Josh Hokit after watching him go all in on a bit involving baby food. “I thought Josh was a moron. Was,” Whittaker said, before explaining that the commitment won him over.
My take: the fighters who passed on Whittaker get to stay anonymous, and that’s their business, but Guskov deserves some credit here. He’s coming off five rounds with Ankalaev that ended badly, and his response was to raise his hand for a fight in front of a Sydney crowd that will be roaring for the other guy. Whittaker has waited 12 years to fight at home again. He told Helwani he wanted it sooner, and the only man who said yes was a light heavyweight who just took a beating and wanted the trip anyway.
