As far as where a win over Gastelum puts Whittaker, he classically says he doesn’t think about it too much. As he puts it, his calendar “only goes until Saturday.” Once the fight is over, then he looks to what could be next, although highest on that docket is getting back home, going through quarantine and getting back with his wife and kids.
He does hope to fight at least one more time given the fact that this fight is happening closer to the middle of the year. Maybe that fight ends up being another shot at gold and at “The Last Stylebender,” maybe not.
Whittaker says in a perfect world, he shows his class on Saturday night, picking Gastelum apart from distance before eventually imposing his will on the way to a finish and can start looking toward the belt once more. Of course, he knows Gastelum has all the tools to make achieving that goal hard, so if Whittaker needs to go beyond Plan A, he’s more than confident as well. Either way, Whittaker is going to show up to work – a job at which he is one of the best in the world.
“This is what I do for a living,” Whittaker said. “I get paid to fight. I’m here to fight. I’m going to make weight, eat some good food, get to work, go home to my family.”