Whittaker ends 12-year middleweight chapter with light heavyweight debut at UFC 329

Robert Whittaker will compete at light heavyweight for the first time in more than 12 years this Saturday when he faces Nikita Krylov at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas at UFC 329. The former middleweight champion, 35, arrives on a two-fight losing streak but insists the division move has transformed both his preparation and his outlook.

“The middleweight Rob Whittaker chapter has closed,” Whittaker said at the UFC 329 media day on Wednesday. “I’m very happy as a light heavyweight. It is honestly life-changing. I recommend it to anybody. I still do have to cut weight, it’s just not as brutal. It’s not as bad.”

Whittaker pointed to the physical and mental toll of his recent middleweight camps as the decisive factor behind the switch. Back-to-back losses — a split decision defeat to Reinier de Ridder and a submission loss to Khamzat Chimaev — left him drained and disengaged in ways he felt were incompatible with competing at the highest level.

“A big prompt into why I made so many changes is that I didn’t enjoy the last couple of camps and the last couple of fights,” he said. “Things had to change otherwise I wasn’t going to continue. Normally by this period I’m hungry, I’m water loading, I’m just longing to go home, missing my wife and kids — counting down the days until it’s over. You can’t be looking past a fight like that. So I’m in a really good place right now.”

The Australian also completed part of his camp at City Kickboxing in Auckland, citing the training environment and sparring partners as key to his improved recovery and mood heading into fight week.

Whittaker was candid about his long-term timeline, saying he has no desire to fight for another five years, but believes the move has meaningfully extended his career beyond what felt possible at 185 pounds.

“I definitely have a few more in me now,” he said. “The way I was feeling after the last couple of fights — how drained I was, how much of a grind it was, dragging my feet to get to everything — comparatively, I definitely have a new love and lease on the game. I want to play Masters soccer, things like that, but I’m not done yet.”

His opponent Krylov is no soft introduction to the division. The Ukrainian veteran holds a 9-7 UFC record at 205 pounds and arrives on the back of a knockout win over Modestas Bukauskas, making Saturday’s bout a genuine test of whether Whittaker’s reinvention can translate into results.