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via Getty

via Getty

Robert Whittaker is at a low point in his distinguished MMA career. has been on a slump and lost three of his last five fights. In an attempt to bounce back, the former middleweight champion will take on the young and dangerous #6-ranked Paulo Costa at UFC 298. The bout will be a consequential one and is likely to determine the course of his career in the near future.

A victory would get him back into title contention and give him a lot more options going forward, while a loss would see him serve in more of a gatekeeper role to the top of the division, the position he finds himself in right now. However, a loss would cement him as the guy up-and-coming fighters have to go through to become a serious contender for the 180-pound crown. And ahead of this much-awaited bout, let us take a look at one aspect that indicates the mindset he is coming into the fight with his walkout song.

Robert Whittaker’s last walk-out song at UFC 290

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Robert Whittaker faced middleweight phenom and now-UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis in the co-main event of UFC 290 last July. For the consequential bout, Whittaker walked out to boxing maestro Roy Jones Jr.’s hit rap song ‘Can’t Be Touched’, which he had walked out to in many important bouts before, including his successful title fight against Yoel Romero. And given that he has walked out to this song for all his important fights, he is likely to walk at UFC 298 to this song.

The bout served as an upset for the South African, who became the no. 1 title contender after the bout. It was after this victory that Du Plessis called out then-champion Israel Adesanya, with whom he was feuding.

‘Izzy’ entered the octagon and indulged in a bizarre, expletive-ridden face-off against the challenger. This served as the perfect build-up for a future clash between them. However, Du Plessis turned down a UFC 294 booking against Adesanya as he was recovering from an injury. Sean Strickland replaced him and won the title before losing it to ‘DDP’ last month. However, Whittaker, too wants to fight Adesanya for the third time after falling short the first two times.

Robert Whittaker’s walkout song at UFC 243

Robert Whittaker and Israel Adesanya have fought twice. Whittaker first faced wunderkind Adesanya, a former star kickboxer, who was only two years into his UFC career at that point, at UFC 243 back in 2019. While Izzy had put together a 17-0 record and his talent and elite striking skills were undeniable, then-champion Whittaker went into the bout as the betting favorite.

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Whittaker walked into the bout to the song ‘Khe Sanh’ by Chisel, a popular party anthem in Australia. Adesanya, at the peak of his athletic abilities, caught the champion with a beautiful counter left in the second round to become the UFC middleweight champion.

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Whittaker put together a three-fight win streak and rematched ‘Izzy’ at UFC 271 in 2022. While he went the distance with the Nigerian-Kiwi, he fell short again. The Aussie again walked out to the tune of ‘Can’t Be Touched’ in that bout.

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What are your predictions for UFC 298? Let us know in the comments section below.

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