Story by (GettyImages)Jeff CainThu, February 5, 2026 at 8:54 AM UTC·2 min readFormer middleweight champion Robert Whittaker last fought in the UFC on ABC 9 main event last July in Abu Dhabi. "Bobby Knuckles" faced Reinier de Ridder and lost a questionable split decision. The loss was Whittaker's second in a row and the New Zealander decided to take some time off while preparing to welcome his sixth child with wife Sofia. She gave birth in November and Whittaker's shifting back to fight preparation mode. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"After my last fight, I was talking with my family and stuff and I knew my wife was due around November and I wanted to take some time to just separate myself from the game a little bit," Whittaker said on The Ariel Helwani Show."The last couple of camps haven't been super fun, so I've just been trying to bring that back into the game and just focus on some things because I don't want to focus on other things such as the gym and everything else and broadcasting and stuff while in camp.