Biography(references)Whittaker was born at Middlemore Hospital in Otahuhu, Auckland, New Zealand. Moving to Australia shortly after, Whittaker's father enrolled Robert, aged seven, and his brother in a Goju-ryu Karate school, to encourage them in self-discipline and self-defence. After training in the discipline for a little over eight years, and earning his black belt, his father offered him the chance to change to another sport or drop karate entirely. While his brother decided to drop out, Robert chose to switch to a Hapkido gym run by Henry Perez, following his move to Menai. .mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}I'm the type of fighter that goes into every fight with no ill will towards my opponent.
Fighter Trivia(references)Whittaker also has legal guardianship of his younger half sister and brothers Kerehi and Henry Matafeo. Whittaker has held clinics for youths in his spare time at his home gym, Gracie jiu-jitsu at Smeaton Grange, and also visited several remote Australian Indigenous youth communities at inland New South Wales. Through this community service, he hopes to inspire the younger generation to take up combat sports by being a good role model to them.
Awards & Accolades
GQ Australia: 2018 GQ Australia Sportsman of the year award
UFC: UFC Middleweight Championship (one time)
UFC: Interim UFC Middleweight Championship (one time, first)
UFC: First Australian UFC champion
UFC: The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes Welterweight Tournament Winner
UFC: The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes Knockout of the Season
UFC: Fight of the Night (five times) vs. Clint Hester, Derek Brunson, Yoel Romero (2), and Kelvin Gastelum
UFC: Performance of the Night (three times) vs. Brad Tavares, Derek Brunson, and Ronaldo Souza
Superfight Australia: Superfight Australia Welterweight Championship (one time)
MMA Mania.com: UFC/MMA 'Fighter of the Year' 2017 - Top 5 List #2
Sherdog: 2017 Fighter of the Year
MMA DNA.nl: 2017 Fighter of the Year
MMA DNA.nl: 2018 Fight of the Year.
BJPENN.COM: Scrap of the Month for June 2018
World MMA Awards: 2017 International Fighter of the Year
Australia Cup: Winner - 97 kg (2015)
Australian National Wrestling Championships: Gold medal - 97 kg (2017)
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