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Original Description
In Part 1 of UFC Journey, watch as Robert Whittaker and Reinier de Ridder prepare for their upcoming middleweight fight in Abu Dhabi.
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Video Transcript
[Music]
This is a big opportunity for me to
fight a former champion Whitaker. I see
myself taking him down, choking him out.
I don't go out there to see if I can win
a fight. I need to put these guys away
and I need to do it spectacularly.
Derita should be prepared for a war. I'm
coming in there locked and loaded.
I'm looking to hunt him down. I'm not
going to give an inch.
I'm coming to finish RDR. That's what
I've been training for. That's what I
want to do.
[Music]
Hey kids, come. No one touched the
hammock. That's mine.
Hey, this is warm. Let
me in.
This is great.
Oh, cold hands. Come here.
Home life is kind of what keeps me
fighting, right? I keep having kids, so
I need to take more fights. But I'm
blessed with everything that I've been
given.
I want to accomplish a few more things.
There's that dream that I have of
reclaiming gold.
And I want to achieve that before I I
take a step away from the game and, you
know, spend some time with the spoils.
Who's that?
[Music]
So many kids.
Martial arts has given me everything in
my life.
Not only has it given me like financial
stability and it's given me a way to
provide for my family, but it's given me
a way to become the man I am today.
[Music]
to become a father, to have the strength
to become a husband, given me the
strength and the ability to adapt and to
to change things when I've made mistakes
or when, you know, I want to better
myself.
I have the strength inside myself to be
able to change those things because of
martial arts.
working my way up to where I am today.
The biggest emotion that I can remember
throughout the whole process was just
uncertainty.
When you start reaching the really upper
echelon of the fight game of the
division, you need to have it all. You
need to have every skill set under your
belt.
You're only going to be fighting hard
guys. They're all hard fights.
The stakes are always the highest.
Everyone's trying to take your spot.
That level of uncertainty was kind of
with me a lot of the way.
The day in day out of performance,
everything hinging on the fight.
The first time I was supposed to fight
Chamay got sick fight week and Irram
stepped in. Non-ranked last minute
opponents are always, you know, kind of
sketchy.
Well, it has been a whirlwind of a week
for the former undisputed UFC
middleweight champion, Robert Whitaker.
22nd UFC appearance and still believes
on any given Saturday night, he is the
best 185 lb fighter on planet Earth and
a huge opportunity tonight.
He can defeat anyone on the planet. That
is why he was happy to accept a short
notice change of opponent because in his
mind it shouldn't matter.
Oh,
huge connection by Whitaker. Follows it
up with a jab now. Head kick sits it
down for a second.
Oh, an uppercut from Whitaker. And
that'll do it. How about the Reaper?
Robert Whitaker with a monumental
statement in Riad.
I'll tell you what, nobody would want to
fight that. You just finished the K.
That was 15 that nobody wanted.
Congratulations.
It was a big relief to get that win
against Ikram. I wanted to get back in
there and I wanted to fight to
that hard fight. I wanted to test myself
against him.
That second fight, I felt great.
Everything was on point. My head space
was where it needed to be. It just
wasn't my night.
She might have taken his time, maybe
trying to get an elbow home right on the
ear. He lands.
Oh, he tapped. Yeah, he tapped fast.
I knew what had happened straight away.
I had bad teeth problems the fight
before and the teeth just gave out
instantly. That's why I had to tap.
Like, I would have been choking on my
teeth. You can sit here and pick apart
whatifs all day
and just find excuses, but I shouldn't
have got caught in the first place. I
shouldn't have been there.
And I need you to hook
elbow.
[Music]
That's it
again.
So moving from that, I focused on fixing
the teeth and then I took some time off,
worked on some new things, and now I'm
I'm I'm ready to rip in again.
Come
here.
I take a lot from a loss.
As upsetting as it is, I don't sit on my
hands. I go back to the drawing board
and I see what I did right. I see what I
did wrong and how I can improve it.
I just get back into training. I work
and I work. I work until the fight
afterwards I come back better.
My next opponent is Ryan Derida. We've
been looking for a fight for a while.
I already understood that he was a good
fighter. He's had two titles in another
organization. So, he's very good at his
craft. He's going to come fight night
and bring it.
I expect him to think the fight's going
to be easier than it is.
Me coming off a loss, him coming off a
win. He thinks he can get it over me,
but that'll be a silly mistake.
I don't think he truly understands what
I'm going to bring in this fight.
This fight is probably my most important
fight.
This fight puts me back on the path that
I want to be on,
heading towards that gold, getting those
rematches that I wanted against certain
people,
wrapping up my career with a fairy tale
ending.
There's no room for anything else in the
fridge but meat.
If you're an athlete, there's no other
way than to eat meat. You need to eat
meat.
I've really found a home here in
Florida. The last two camps here were
perfect. I really was able to prepare
for those fights the way I wanted to.
The amount of work I can get done here
with high level guys, high level
coaching, I cannot find at home in the
Netherlands or anywhere else. It's the
best gym in the world. So, I really
decided that's where I need to be right
now.
Protein, baby.
In every camp, I've been here for three
or four weeks by myself. It's hard to be
without my wife, be without my kids. But
they're coming over to Florida now. We
found a house here. We found a school
for that kid and we're moving at least
for a year.
Once they're here, everything is going
to be so much easier.
[Music]
I found this place. It's nice here. It's
close to the beach. We have the pool
here for the kids.
They like it. They're starting to learn
the language a little bit. So, um
hopefully they can feel at home here as
well.
Over
the last five, six years, I've had like
10 different reasons for why I wanted to
fight and why I wanted to be good at
this. Over the years, I thought I did
this because of my children. I did this
to leave a legacy.
I've had all these different thoughts
about this, but at the moment, I just
think I want to enjoy my life. I want to
work hard for something, see how far I
can go at it. That's that's basically
the reason right now.
Okay. One minute.
Ready? Let's go.
Let's go.
The last 6 months has been crazy. I've
been very very fortunate with all the
opportunities in the UFC's been putting
in front of me. Every time after a
fight, I get a week of rest and they're
already calling me for the next fight.
If they say you want to fight Robert
Whitaker in a main event, if you say no,
you're not right for the sport.
To fight a former champion, a legend of
the sport, it's amazing. It's a very big
one. He's still very, very dangerous.
That's one of the greatest things being
here.
There's always somebody who can mimic my
next opponent.
So, I'm specifically working for a
style, but I'm still just focused on
what I do best and bringing that to the
cage again.
To be in the octagon with a legend, it's
not something I shy away from.
I know I have a good shot in this one. I
know if I do what I do best, I can't get
him out of there.
I always wanted to be the best at
everything I did.
I've always been in competition since 5
years old. I was in judo.
MMA came pretty soon after.
I was pretty much hooked from the
beginning.
I was able to do very well.
I was a double champ in a different
promotion. I got to a point where I
kind of beat all the fighters they had.
So it was a big thing for me after all
those years in the other promotion to
finally have arrived to where I wanted
to be my entire career
because everybody who starts fighting
wants to be in UFC and I was no
different and since then it's been
non-stop action.
Reneer Ditter says this is the moment he
has been waiting for ever since he was a
kid.
Oh that's a good shot. The first fight
with UFC I was able to do well dig deep.
Gerald is a very tough guy to put away.
Show me there.
Finished him in the third round.
Rioner Ditter with a round three
submission and a big debut in the
octagon.
Quickly after that fight, they came up
with Kevin Holland.
Kevin is of course very popular in the
UFC, very well-known guy. The entire
crowd was against me. uh which is
something I do enjoy sometimes. We
really study him extensively. The idea
was I need to pressure this guy.
Wow. Rer Ditter right away secures a
take down. Very impressive.
Took him down. Get to the back.
He almost shook me off, but then I made
a nice transition to the Kimura. Rolled
him. Squeezed him out pretty quickly.
RDR's got that choke in. Yeah, that's
tight. He's going to put him to sleep
here.
Unbelievable.
Just like that, Ryer Ditter submits
Kevin Holland in round one.
Very, very impressive.
Huge win for Ryer Ditter.
Again, like a week later, they called
me, "We have another fight for you."
They gave me Bo Nickel. There was a lot
of hype around him. That was a big
underdog. I remember walking into the
arena and there was a dude and he said,
"Bo Nicholas going to murder you." I was
like, "All right, all right. We'll see."
I read him. I kept my guard up, put the
pressure on him.
B's hurt.
He's taking a lot of shots there.
And I saw he was swinging wild punches
and that was a real clue to me that he's
hurt.
Got him cleanly with the knee.
Knee to the body. crumbles. Bo Nickel
and I felt like I don't need to hurt him
anymore. He's already out.
Say hello to a real contender, Ryan Der.
He's been awesome to have all these
opportunities.
I've really enjoyed every step of this
journey. It's been amazing so far and
it's long from over. I'm coming to get
them all. Coming to finish everybody.
[Music]
Look at that.
[Music]
It's the goo.
[Music]
running line. Don't be behind.
Spread a little bit more, please. I have
the whole man to you.
Once I achieve the things that I've
wanted to achieve, once I've done
everything in the game that I've wanted
to do, I look forward to taking that
step away from the game competitively
and just focusing on helping the other
lads.
the gym and the boys in the team.
They're my second family.
Let's go on.
Brought up a couple guys from Melbourne
and honestly working with them has been
outstanding.
Having different looks, different
bodies.
We work hard. We're all fighters and
it's good to be surrounded by fighters
with the same sort of head space and
mindset that you have.
Two of them are in the UFC.
The other two are prospects.
They're all pushing towards the same
direction.
Good. That's it.
We're all trying to better each other to
be the best versions of ourselves. And
they train like it. Bringing any sort of
spotlight to the Australian MMA scene
has been a big point of pride for myself
because it creates opportunities and
pathways for MMA athletes here in the
country.
[Music]
The shared traits of Australian fighters
is just they have so much heart. You see
that across the board.
We've got two Australian champs at the
moment. The dam has been broken. We're
taking over. They're flooding the
divisions now and you can see our
quality.
[Music]
Rob was actually one of the first
fighters that I actually watched. And to
me, he's one of probably the big
inspirations as to why I actually
pursued martial arts.
[Music]
It blew my mind that a guy that was so
relaxed, so chill, but when he goes in
the cage, he's just an absolute animal.
And I think that when he decides to hand
up the gloves, there's a whole journey
there that he will leave behind that all
of Australia can really look up to, you
know, as a sports person in general.
It's a good time to be a mixed martial
artist in Australia.
Nice work. It's perfect.
We're a sporting nation. We always have
been. And yeah, we know how to dig in.
There is a new contender in the UFC,
Robert Whitaker.
And it is all over.
Oh, he goes down with a knee. That is
it.
Oh, that was unbelievable.
Robert Whitaker, many believe, is
Australia's best hope for UFC glory.
Robert the Reaper
way.
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
That's it.
I'm certainly proud of all the spotlight
I've brought to the sport, but I don't
think it's right for me to to sit back
and and look at my laurels just yet.
go.
Looking at my career, I'm at the tippy
end.
I can feel it, man. I don't want to be
that guy that's fighting forever.
Bend your leg a bit.
You either retire from fighting or
fighting retires you. And I believe it
wholeheartedly.
I understand the task that is ahead of
me.
I want to really push these last few
fights,
just rip in, give everything I have for
it, and leave, you know, on top of the
game.
I'm working relentlessly, tirelessly.
I'm pushing with everything that I have
to get that belt back.
[Music]
I want to be with the kids as much as
possible. I really enjoy just being
together, doing fun stuff,
but it's hard because fighting always
comes first. This year I've been home
for like uh four weeks total in the
Netherlands.
It's been a bit of a grind, but uh I'm
very very grateful for where I'm at
right now.
My family sacrifices more than I do.
Especially my wife, she does so much
with the kids. She kind of put some of
her stuff on hold to be there for the
kids and be the mom that she is.
Hopefully I can return the favor after
this all is done.
It's sacrifices from my side, but it's
also such a big opportunity for him to
do this in the UFC. And it's not
forever,
but not being with each other. It's
hard. And that's also the reason why we
are moving here because we want to just
stay together, not just have a mother
here and a father there.
When he start training here, it was
already obvious that that's the place to
be to train. And I love it here. I love
Florida, Miami. The weather is good.
It's a chill vibe.
Me fighting and me being a dad at home
are very separate. And of course, I want
to be a good role model, but that
doesn't mean winning a lot of fights and
and being the best.
More importantly, I want to be just a
good person. If I can show them how to
be good to people, how to live a
balanced life, I think that's way more
important. But meanwhile, I still want
to be very successful. I still want to
just run through everybody, finish
everybody. looking all ready for the
gym, wearing everything to say
without a t-shirt.
Now is the time to come here. I can
really keep going. I don't really need
to worry about anything else but just
fighting.
This is actually for me more than for
you. So you make connections.
9.
I'm very happy to have Angla by my side.
He's really helping me get better.
It's very cool to see him moving into
more of a coaching role
cuz he's very very good at this.
Angla and I had two fights. He was the
two division champion in the other
organization for a long time. winning
the first fight got me a real belt for
the first time. We had the rematch
shortly after and was able to get the
decision. I don't think he really holds
any grudges over those fights. His time
of being a champ was just was was over.
In the middle of the rivalry, I couldn't
imagine being friends and having him as
a coach in this way. But it's crazy how
life works sometimes.
Step back. Step back and go.
I have a long history with Rene.
I never imagined we'd be teammates, but
he's here and we're very happy. He's a
great addition to the team. Him being
here makes us a lot better. And our game
helps his overall MMA game as well.
I know firsthand how good this guy is.
I see him becoming the champion. He's
doing everything right. He's bringing
his whole family here. He's going to
have a good journey. He's going to have
a good ride here.
My confidence really comes from the work
I put in right now. I do more than
everybody else. I analyze more. I grind
more.
The mental side is maybe the most
important thing for me. I've really done
a lot of introspective work. I really
looked in. I really studied more about
what it means to be the best at
something.
The thing you work for in mental
preparation is to be in the moment when
you're in the cage. Because when you
step into that cage, there cannot be
another thought in your mind. There
cannot be anything else.
I would like to prove that I belong,
that I can fight for a championship,
that I'm one of the best in the world at
this.
Whitaker has a very unique skill set, a
very complete skill set. He does
everything very well. He already had the
belt, but it's very admirable that he's
still grinding. His skills are not
wavering at all. He's still all in.
If I get a spectacular finish over
Whitaker, I show that I am right there
to fight for the title.
He's got his strengths and I've got
mine. It's propelling me to work harder.
I'm making sure that I'm well prepared
to handle him.
I look to coming into the fight with Der
as the best version of Rob Wooda.
I need to put the pressure on him. He
cannot be too comfortable cuz that's
where he's most dangerous. I see myself
getting in his face early, pushing him
back. The fight is not going to stay
standing. I'm going to get close to him.
I'm going to hurt him and I'm going to
take him down. I'm looking to hit him
with everything that I got.