Robert Whittaker tunes out Roman Dolidze's callout, ponders something bigger

Robert Whittaker is focused on bigger things than a fight with Roman Dolidze.

Dolidze (14-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) called out both Israel Adesanya and Whittaker after avenging his loss to Marvin Vettori in this past Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 254 main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Whittaker (26-8 MMA, 17-6 UFC) was quick to shut down the idea.

“I’m trying to fight a top-five guy, dude,” Whittaker said on his “MMArcade Podcast.” “Join the queue.”

Whittaker, the former UFC middleweight champion, admits he couldn’t make it past two rounds when he watched the fight.

“I watched a round-and-a-half and was like, ‘Dude, I have nothing to gain from this,’ and I went back to (playing) Monster Hunter Wilds,” Whittaker said. “Bro, it was just like the exact same as their first fight. They’re still at the same pub.

“They’re just like, ‘Ah, it’s you.’ And then they just started punching on again. It’s the exact same thing. I reckon they should run it back to break the trilogy, to get some proper closure on whatever reason they’re having a brawl.”

For now, Whittaker is targeting former champ Sean Strickland on June 28 at UFC 317 during International Fight Week, then will see how he feels about a potential move up to light heavyweight.

“I’m going to decide after this next fight,” Whittaker said. “(One more at middleweight) at the very least depending on – I’m going to really try and push the boundaries of muscle-to-weight ratio and everything and just see where we come up.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 254.