Robert Whittaker is feeling right as rain.
At UFC 308 in October, Whittaker suffered a horrible injury when Khamzat Chimaev dislocated his teeth with a face crank. The injury was among the most gruesome of the year and while fans may have expected a long layoff for the former middleweight champion, apparently he’s already doing much better.
Speaking on his MMArcade podcast on Tuesday, Whittaker talked through the injury and explained that while Chimaev did pop them out, his teeth have actually been a problem for years before this.
“I’ve always kind of had bad bottom teeth,” Whittaker said. “I’ve had missing teeth for 10 years plus. So I’ve always been kind of shot because they’re not stable. They’re not a full circuit, they’re like half. Over the years, trauma whatever, I don’t know. It was something that needed to be addressed by every dentist was always ‘Try to keep your real teeth. Keep your real teeth.’ I should’ve got rid of them years ago.
“But the Dricus [du Plessis] fight... they got pushed in a little bit when I fought Dricus. I had to address that, they had to be pushed back, I had a cast in there, let them settle, yada yada yada, move on. Then when I fought Ikram [Aliskerov], I had all these infections. I had to get four root canals. And I think the teeth had just had it. I think they had just had enough. Enough is enough. [Laughs]. I don’t think there was anything holding the teeth there anymore.
“But anyway, his forearm goes straight across the bottom teeth and they move straight away. Then the squeeze after it, they were gone. They just went straight back in. Everyone and their friend saw the photos. ...
“My teeth just went straight in and I couldn’t fight out of it. I could feel my teeth in the middle of my mouth. I was done. And hats off to Chimaev. Guy had a plan, went in there, executed it for whatever reason, got the W.
“It’s upsetting. I don’t like losing like that, but it is what it is.”
While the injury certainly looked terrible — and Whittaker even joked about Daniel Cormier publicizing the photo — it wasn’t all bad. Given his long history of issues with them, Whittaker says eventually he was going to have his teeth removed anyway, and so in a weird way, there’s a silver lining to this loss.
“You know what? I’ll go as far as to say, Chimaev did me a favor,” Whittaker said. “He got rid of the teeth.
“The fear of hurting my bottom teeth, of them moving — they’ve always been crap. I haven’t been able to bite down on like an apple since I was 19. They’ve always been bad. I should’ve dealt with them.
“They’re just gone. I don’t need them. My life is better without them. Fun fact though, when they took them out they found a massive cyst in my jaw. Apparently they think that might have been where the infections were coming from with the teeth. So everything happens for a reason.”
Whittaker added that he’s already back in the gym and feeling fine, however, he’s not in a rush to return to action. The former middleweight champion instead said he plans to enjoy a proper holiday with his family before targeting a return around the summer of 2025.
“I’m going to give a bit of time. I’m not going to rush into the next fight, because there are some things I want to address,” Whittaker said “... I’m probably looking to return in June. June-ish? End of May? I don’t know. We’ll play with the dates next year. ...”
“I’m 34 in December,’ Whittaker continued. “I still have, I feel like some tricks up my sleeve. I still have some goals that I want to hit. Like I said, I am building some new skills. But that’s just how I look at things. Every obstacle and setback just makes me stronger, it makes the comeback better. I’m looking forward to getting back in there. I’m enjoying training. I’m excited for the next, what I could be.”
