UFC 254: Robert Whittaker hits back at Jared Cannonier’s illegal kick claims
He’s one of the nicest people in all of combat sport but former UFC middleweight champ Robert Whittaker has been left enraged by accusations from UFC 254 opponent Jared Cannonier.
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Robert Whittaker has vowed to “stomp the shit” out of UFC rival Jared Cannonier after the American suggested his favoured oblique kick is a dirty, even illegal tactic.
Despite his reputation as a UFC cleanskin, Whittaker has been accused of fighting with a “dirty technique” by the man he faces at UFC 254 in Abu Dhabi on October 25.
In a recent interview with ESPN journalist Ariel Helwani, Cannonier suggested Whittaker’s oblique stomp – or push kick directly above the knee – was a move he wanted outlawed from the sport.
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The Texas native likened the “career altering” kick to eye gouges, groin strikes, even NFL players illegally attacking the knee.
Cannonier also promised to deliver Whittaker a “savage mauling” should the Sydneysider attempt the tactic in their upcoming bout, which will decide the No.1 contender for UFC middleweight champ Israel Adesanya.
Yet speaking with The Daily Telegraph on Friday, Whittaker not only defended his use of the oblique kick, but revealed he would do far worse to the American if allowed.
“Cannonier reckons those kicks are dirty?” Whittaker asked, completely unaware of the accusations levelled against him.
“Well, I’m still going to use them.
“I’m actually going to try and stomp shit out of him.
“Because, mate, we’re fighting. So I’ll use anything.
“I actually wish there were fewer rules in the UFC. I wish we could do everything.
“I’d kick him in the back of the head if I could.”
Apart from labelling the oblique kick a “legitimate” move, Whittaker also pointed out he’d suffered serious injury himself, without complaint, when stomped fighting Cuban Yoel Romero.
“I’ve been stomped — that’s why I started stomping people,” he laughed. “And I’ll keep using it.”
So what of Cannonier’s “savage mauling” threat?
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“He wants to give me a savage mauling anyway,” Whittaker shrugged. “So the suggestion he wouldn’t try and maul me if I didn’t do those kicks ... piss off.
“Plus it’s not like I’m going to give them up because I’m scared of a mauling.”
Asked by Helwani what he noticed most about Whittaker’s win over Englishman Darren Till in July, Cannonier pointed immediately to the kick.
“That oblique kick to the knee, I’m not a big fan,” he said. “That’s career altering.
“I don’t use it personally because I know how dangerous it is. And if I did use it, you better have the next year of your life planned out.”
The American likened the move to illegal ploys, like diving for the knee by NFL players.
“In football, you can’t knee spike,” he said. “You can’t dive for the knee.
“And the UFC is a sport. This isn’t just fighting.
“I wouldn’t be sad if I never saw (the kick) again.”
Cannonier also promised immediate payback if Whittaker tried the oblique kick on him.
“You do it to me, I’m going to liken it to a dirty technique,” he said. “(Like) you trying to gouge my eyes, kick me in the nuts … trying to stomp my knee is a major violation and I’m going to make you pay.
“There will be major implications for anyone who wants to use that technique on me.
“So the door is open for a clean finish, or it can be a savage mauling.”
None of which bothers Australia’s first UFC champion.
“It’s silly,” he said of Cannonier’s threats. “And I never pay too much attention to that s … anyway.
“It’s not worth my time. I’m going out there to fight.”
Originally published as UFC 254: Robert Whittaker hits back at Jared Cannonier’s illegal kick claims