A guide to the Robert Whittaker blitz

 The existence of Israel Adesanya has robbed Robert Whittaker of middleweight goat legacy. Despite losing to “Stylebender” Whittaker has soundly beaten every contender he’s faced from 2014 to 2023, still putting on astounding performances against high-level fighters since starting to decline. Not only has he got so many high-level wins, but all of them have come impressively, running circles around many up-and-coming middleweights. Whittaker’s success can be attributed to his blitzing footwork. The game of “The Reaper” revolves around bouncing in from an extended distance, throwing a few punches, and getting out without taking damage. Whittaker is not the first to come up with this idea of fighting from range, but is unique in his ability to maintain aggression, constantly darting in to do a punch while successfully retreating out of striking distance before the opponent can fire back. 

The mechanics of Whittaker’s blitz are based on his stance. Whittaker stands with quite a wide base, rhythmically bouncing from outside range. If he is not fully springing up and down, he will at the very least be shifting his weight back and forth between his feet. All the while, Whittaker’s knees will be internally rotated, digging his feet into the floor and allowing him to drive his legs off the canvas. This somewhat unconventional stance is what makes Whittaker’s style so effective, as it allows him to generate a lot of force when he blitzes forwards, while his entries become a lot less telegraphed with the constant movement. Whittaker’s stance is what leads to the effectiveness of the blitz from a mechanical point of view but it is the hopping motions that turn it from an exaggerated movement to a legitimate entry into striking range.

Whittaker’s bounce is the foundation of his striking, but his jab is what really holds it together. The vast majority of Whittaker’s entries will be off his jab, bouncing in with his head off the center line and throwing out a stiff left. This can be used as an offensive or defensive move, starting off a striking exchange or intercepting an advancing opponent. The dipping motion to the outside is what makes this so effective, as it acts as a line of defence against his opponents, putting his head out of the way of counter punches while also protecting it with the top of his shoulder. This works especially well against orthodox opponents, who will often try to jab back only for Whittaker to slip outside their punch. A lot of the time, his opponents will attempt to parry, in which case the jabbing hand can be whipped around into a lead hook. This becomes even more effective when Whittaker doubles up the jab, as he can double up on the hopping motion, allowing him to cover halfway across the octagon in two punches. The double jab allows Whittaker to step deep into the pocket, putting a lot more power behind his already fast jab when he gets into a closer range. Israel Adesanya found this out in their second meeting, as he would regularly attempt to lean back out of range of Whittaker as he does against many other opponents, only to get hit by Whittaker’s second jab while leaning back out of his stance. Despite what Michael Bisping’s atrocious commentary that night would suggest, Whittaker’s doubling up gave Adesanya a tremendous amount of trouble, allowing “The Reaper” to go toe to toe with one of the most credentialed strikers in the sport’s history. 

Against southpaws, Whittaker’s jab takes somewhat of a backseat. He still uses it to cover his entries, but it becomes more of a tool to open up other options. Whittaker will often jab to gain outside foot position and then shoot the cross down the centreline, still slipping to the outside to move out of the way of the opponent’s jab (In this instance to the left). Getting deep on the outside foot position blocks any movement towards their right, forcing them into the open side. This is when the notorious one-two head kick comes into play. When met with a right hand from this angle, an opponent is faced with a dilemma. Either they can take the brunt of the blow, or they can try to slip out to their left, handing Whittaker the head kick on a silver platter. Jared Cannonier struggled a lot with this, with Whittaker pinning him in an upright stance by constantly threatening the head kick. Once Cannonier decided he had enough of the right hands he finally folded, slipping as far to his waist as he could, right into the path of the Aussie’s shin. 

When learning the art of the blitz it is as important to be able to exit striking range safely as it is to execute when you get there. Too many strikers simply retreat on a straight line after a pocket exchange and get caught on the way out. Whittaker has a plethora of exits when he’s done striking. Whittaker’s tendency to dip as he jabs puts him in prime position to roll his head out of the way, proceeding to then L step out of range. If Whittaker chooses not to slip as he jabs he will often perform a V step, retreating on an angle out of the right hand. Marvin Vettori would get stung by Whittaker’s jab, looking to counter with his left hand only to find Whittaker too far off angle on the V step. Ilia Topuria did this successfully against an orthodox opponent in Charles Oliveira, who looked to charge in on a line when Ilia entered, only to find that Topuria wasn’t there. What was even more interesting is when Whittaker threw his right hand at Vettori, allowing his legs to come to parallel and then galloping away, hanging his right hand and converting it into a frame to push off his opponent’s face. If you’re looking to see that footwork pattern done best, Willie Pep utilised it amazingly in his career. Whittaker’s ability to retreat off a variety of angles makes the blitz far more effective, rounding out the art of hitting and not getting hit. 

It is easy to see Whittaker’s short championship reign and undervalue his legacy, especially as he starts to exit his prime, hiding that he is one of the best fighters the ufc middleweight division has ever seen. Whittaker’s take on karate boxing is quite unique, and hopefully we will see a few more contenders schooled by it before it is all over.