Robert Whittaker lays out retirement timeline for “fairy tale ending”

Robert Whittaker is closing in on the end of his UFC career.

Whittaker is set to headline UFC Abu Dhabi on July 26 against Reinier de Ridder in an intriguing bout. ‘The Reaper’ is looking to get back into the win column after a submission loss to Khamzat Chimaev. Ahead of his return, Whittaker says he has four fights left in his career, which includes ending his career on top.

“Four fights. I see the light at the end of the tunnel, I want four more, that’s me. I see the stepping stones needed to do what I want to do,” Whittaker said to FOX Sports Australia. “Four fights gets me into that title shot, gets me into a position to finish on top, to have that fairy tale ending. I’m working towards it.”

Whittaker says the ideal world would see him get revenge against Dricus Du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev in his final four fights. But, he knows he just needs to win fights to get back into title contention at middleweight.

Robert Whittaker remains confident he can reclaim the middleweight belt

Despite being dominated by Khamzat Chimaev last time out, Robert Whittaker believes he still can be champion again.

Whittaker knows Chimaev was better than him that night, but does has confidence that he could win a rematch if it happens.

“He was just better than me on the day. I could look to make as many excuses under the sun as I want. But, truth is I’ve got the L now. So all you can do really is just throw yourself back in the gym, get back on the horse. Because the fight went the way it was, I’m not disheartened in my own skill set particularly much,” Whittaker said.

“I’m not disheartened in my striking ability, my knockout ability, so I go into this fight still with a lot of confidence that I can do what it is that I do. Prior to the Chimaev fight, that I did to Ikram, that I did to Costa, striking’s my game. He’s going to look to try and take me down and I’m not going to let him,” Whittaker added.

Robert Whittaker is 26-8 and is coming off the loss to Chimaev. The former middleweight champ has notable wins against Paulo Costa, Yoel Romero, Darren Till, Jacare Souza, and Kelvin Gastelum, among others.