The UFC’s visit to Kansas City, Missouri was full of exciting fights. It was expected that big favorite, Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza would defeat Robert Whittaker and solidify himself as the ‘next future contender’ for the middleweight title -after Yoel Romero faces the winner between Georges St-Pierre and Michael Bisping. However, Whittaker had other plans and rained on Jacare’s parade.
Robert Whittaker took his opportunity and made the most out of it. He gave perhaps the best performance of his career in a crucial moment for his career. Robert defeated Jacare in extraordinary fashion in the second round. But maybe the fight began to be defined since round one, when Souza managed to take Whittaker down and tried to take his back. Robert quickly shook off Jacare and returned to a standing position, which boosted his spirits and maybe broke his opponent’s.
The beginning of the end would come in the first few minutes of the second round, just when Robert sent Jacare to the canvas with one big punch. It wasn’t the end of the fight, but it was obvious Souza was dazed. A few seconds later Whittaker landed a straight tight hand and combined it with a head kick that stun the Brazilian and allowed him to swarm Souza and take him out.
At the end of the fight Robert Whittaker talked about his strategy for Jacare.
“We discussed all the possibilities. He’s so good on the ground, it was, if we go to the ground, hit him a few times and get back up, stay patient. I train tirelessly, I train my jiu-jitsu, train my wrestling. My coaches told me if I stayed patient, it would come.”
Finally, Whittaker talked about Michael Bisping, who he was supposed to face at UFC 191. The fight was cancelled when Bisping announced he had suffered an injury.
“You owe me a fight, man.”
