“When the winds of change blow, some build walls while others build windmills” – so goes a Chinese proverb. Robert Whittaker belongs to the second category, it seems. The former undisputed UFC middleweight champion has set his sights on a major overhaul. The shift may occur outside the cage. Yet Whittaker doesn’t appear shy about making changes within it as well.

Two back-to-back losses have put the brakes on Robert Whittaker‘s career. The setbacks, however, don’t seem to deter him from trying his luck in a higher division in hopes of a fresh start. Last October, Khamzat Chimaev, now the middleweight champion, snapped Whittaker’s two-fight winning streak, which had followed a loss to Dricus Du Plessis. A tightly contested defeat to Reinier de Ridder nine months later added to his woes. Amid rumors of a boxing switch, Whittaker decided to lift the lid on his plans.

Robert Whittaker considers career reinvention with a weight jump

The latest episode of MMArcade might raise a few eyebrows. While sharing his thoughts on the recently concluded Jake Paul-Anthony Joshua fight, Whittaker, dressed in Christmas-themed attire, told co-host Jonny Roses something startling. It is still unclear how he plans to manage it. But it appears he wants to return to the cage in the new year.

“I’ve been working on some new skill sets and working on some new things. Want to get in there probably about mid next year,” Whittaker stated. But in the same breath, he threw a curveball: “I don’t know if it will be at middleweight.”

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Roses attempted to clarify whether he was planning a move to light heavyweight, and Whittaker acknowledged, “Yeah, potentially.” He understands the underlying dynamics. Whittaker considers himself a big guy. But many disagree, claiming he is far too short for the division. As far as he is concerned, the change hardly makes a difference, though.

‘The Reaper’ started in the UFC as a welterweight and won ‘The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes’ in 2012. Two years (and a few losses at 170 lbs) later, he moved up to middleweight. It was not until he ran into Israel Adesanya that Whittaker tasted defeat at 185 lbs. Dricus Du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev are other middleweight champions who had a similar successful jump from 170 lbs to 185 lbs.

However, going from middleweight to light heavyweight is a tall order compared to the 10 lbs jump between middleweight and the weight classes below it. Very few, like the Brazilian giant Alex Pereira, have moved up and found considerable success there. Whittaker boasts neither the power nor the size that a Pereira or Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson could.

However, he has always been the shorter man with a shorter reach. Size-wise, it is barely going to make any difference, or so he feels. So why not try something new as well, he ponders.

For Whittaker, change may extend beyond the cage

Last year, months before he fell into Khamzat Chimaev’s trap, Robert Whittaker spoke about retiring at age 35. “I feel like 36 is a good age to, like, really have a solid crack at something else, whatever it is I want to do, you know?” he told Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson at the time.

Whittaker celebrated his 35th birthday six days ago. So that leaves him just a year before he plans to wrap things up and focus on managing his personal portfolio, which includes interests in various businesses.

While Whittaker may have surprised fans with the latest update, it follows an earlier shocker in which he expressed interest in trying his hand at boxing. “Yeah, it interests me for sure; certainly, it definitely interests me, especially not actually having to go through the boxing circuit the way a lot of guys did. If I can move straight up to these UFC guys coming into boxing and doing those sorts of fights…I think there’s some money to be made there. I think it’ll keep me fit,” he stated on MMArcade.

Robert Whittaker currently stands ninth in the middleweight rankings. Fans will be watching closely to see how one of the UFC’s most exciting fighters charts his path before eventually drawing the curtain.