Robert Whittaker garners praise form Islam Makhachev after UFC 298 triumph over Paulo Costa: “High-level, IQ fighter”

UFC 298, the PPV headlined by Alexander Volkanovski and Ilia Topuria, had fans and fighters on the edge of their seats with spectacular performances. Conor McGregor, the sport’s biggest superstar, paid close attention to the event and even predicted what could transpire in the fight.

The former lightweight champion McGregor’s prediction came almost close to coming to fruition, as he only missed out on the main event prediction. Islam Makhachev, the pound-for-pound king, was particularly impressed by the performance of Robert Whittaker in the UFC 298 co-main event.

Islam lavishes praise on Robert Whittaker

Islam Makhachev expressed his appreciation for Robert Whittaker on his social media after the former middleweight champion earned a hard-fought victory over Paulo Costa. “WhittakerHigh-level, IQ fighter. Congrats champ @robwhittakermma,” Makhachev tweeted on his official X handle.

Like Conor McGregor, Makhachev also closely follows big fights in the UFC and shares his thoughts about them on social media. Makhachev consistently praises his fellow UFC fighters, and the praise Whittaker received was certainly a feather in the cap after a wonderful performance in the co-main event of UFC 298.

With the victory, Whittaker rebounded from the knockout loss he suffered to Dricus du Plessis, who went on to become champion at UFC 297, at UFC 291. Incidentally, Volkanovski headlined UFC 291 but unlike his showing at UFC 298 against Ilia Topuria, he won via knockout against Yair Rodriguez.

Volk went on to face Islam Makhachev at UFC 294, stepping in on short notice and suffering a first-round knockout. Makhachev now looks to face the winner of the UFC 300 bout between Charles Oliveira versus Arman Tsarukyan.

Robert Whittaker beats Paulo Costa at UFC 298

Robert Whittaker earned a hard-fought unanimous decision victory over Paulo Costa with two scorecards reading 29-28 and one 30-27. Whittaker out-landed Costa with strikes throughout the fight and secured the win on points, despite also getting tagged by the Brazilian.

Whittaker was on cruise control in round 1 but got tagged with a spinning heel kick from Costa in the final seconds that wobbled the Australian fighter. One of the judges gave that round to Costa, with commentators even expressing the opinion that the fight would’ve ended if a couple of more seconds were in that round.

Nonetheless, Whittaker showcased the toughness he displayed in his fights with Yoel Romero as he went back to business as usual in rounds 2 and 3. Costa had earlier used jabs to full effect, and Whittaker began to use his jabs to good results in the final rounds. Moreover, he also landed solid shots, but Costa’s chin held firm.

In the post-fight press conference, Whittaker acknowledged the spinning heel kick as the best strike that Costa landed. The Australian also revealed that he tried his best to knock out Costa but found the Brazilian too tough to finish. With the victory, Whittaker is now eyeing a middleweight title fight against Dricus du Plessis.

What do you think of Robert Whittaker’s performance at UFC 298? Leave your thoughts below!