July 27, 2025 • 9 mins
Robert Whittaker lost via split decision to Reinier de Ridder in what was an incredible fight for the UFC's Main Event in Abu Dhabi. Listen to the last time Rob caught up with DC ahead of his fight with Khamzat Chimaev on the DC Check-In series! Chimaev was victorious in this bout after a first round submission of Whittaker at UFC 308. #Volume
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Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
You know it's the summer, and as you know, summer
means baseball.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
So once again I'm partnering up with our good friends
at the Draft Kings Sportsbook to bring all new customers
a fantastic offer. All you gotta do go to the
Draft Kings Sports Book, sign up using my promo code DCTV,
bet only five dollars more and will give you one
hundred and fifty dollars in bonus bets instantly. You can
bet on so many different things when it comes to baseball.
Let the Draft Kicks Boards Book. I'm talking home runs, strikeouts,
(00:33):
and bet your favorite team to win. So once again,
all new customers, go to the Draft Kicks Sports Book,
sign up using my promo code DCTV, bet five dollars
more and get one hundred and fifty dollars in bonus
bets instantly.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
When you're dealing with baseball, So Draft Kings Sportsbook, the
crown is yours and so is your favorite team in MLB.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
Let's go gambling problem called one a tendred gambler in
New York called eight seven seven an eight hope and
wire text hope and y four six seven three six
nine in Connecticut. Help is available for problem gambling called
eight eight eight seven eight nine seven seven seven seven
or visit CCPG dot org. Please play responsibly on behalf
of Boothill Casino in Resorting, Kansas twenty one on over
agent Eligibility varies by jurisdiction, void and Ontario New customers only.
(01:18):
Bonus petsickspire one hundred and sixty eight hours after issuance.
Four additional terms and responsible gaming resources see dkanng dot
co slash audio.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Robert Wicker, thanks for checking in with me again, Champ.
We're back again, and uh you just literally keep getting
better and keep working towards this goal. That last fight
gets Ali scaroff. I remember we sat down, Remember I
did the interview on my iPad because I didn't have
a camera, And you told me that you thought you
(01:56):
had figured out a way to get through this. Dude.
I'm like, well, he's this, this, and the other. You
beat him easier than anyone could have imagined. Like, was
that the expectation of the fight going in?
Speaker 5 (02:04):
Another expectation the hope, yes, the hope, yeah. Not the expectation.
The expectation was to groind it out for twenty five minutes. Yeah,
you know, I have wolves, that's what we trained for
and prepare for. But night like, it's just confidence in
the work that I'm putting in.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Yeah, you hit him with that night shot.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
He went when he went real and you your eyes
got bigca.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
You didn't rush though.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
That's the one thing that young fighters don't get, right.
They get somebody hurt and they just go crazy. You
took your time and you found it was it was
an upper cut, right, Yeah, they got him. Yeah, you
found the uppercut that got him. When you saw it hurt,
You're like, okay, take my time, let me find the shot.
Speaker 5 (02:40):
Yeah. The idea is hurt him and not let them recover, right, Yeah,
and then like you'll fund your moment.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
I always tell people, I said, it's not the first
one though. The first one hurts you. It's the follow
up shot that gets you, right, the one that comes after.
And it was like you hurt him, and then when
you went and you got him, I was like, oh
my god, Robert Whitaker that she was crazy. It's kind
of crazy how you managed to do it over and
over again. But you never released. You never released the
(03:06):
thought that you'd beat the champion. Even after drinkings, Duke
plus ce, you just right back to work. Now you're fighting.
Ham's out Jamaya of like I, me and your pops
are talking outside. He goes, he's due for an easy one.
I go, they don't get no easier once they get
no easier because they beat Jamayah.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Now you're fighting for the belt again.
Speaker 5 (03:21):
Yeah, it's uh, this is what I do. This is
what I sign up for. This is my duty to
my family, and this is how I put bread on
the table and I take that role very responsibly.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
So when you look at Jamaya, right, he was going
through these dudes like crazy.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
Right. He gets to.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
Ushman though, and it was much more difficult because no right,
no disrespect to Lee, no disrespect to these these these
first dudes he should have beat like that on Fight Island, right,
because they're just not very good. Uh mayor Shark, he
knocked him out. I was a bit surprised when he
gets to Usman, right, world class fighter? What did you
see in him in that fight? Opposed to what you
(03:57):
saw prior?
Speaker 5 (03:59):
I think you just what did I see?
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Good?
Speaker 3 (04:07):
Things that impressed you are things that you might have
went okay?
Speaker 5 (04:10):
Well, I think I think the first thing is like,
you need to respect his skill level, like he's he's
pushing a game plan on a world class fighter, on
a former champion level fighter that deserves respect. Like everyone
knows he was going to wrestle, he still did it. Yeah,
that deserves respect and I respect it. And that's why
(04:30):
I've trained my heart out for the last twenty weeks.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (04:35):
Right, But also he saw that Usman on a week
to notice he started catching up.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Yes, he did.
Speaker 5 (04:43):
In the third round, he started catching up.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
And You've got five rounds and.
Speaker 5 (04:47):
I've got five rounds and I think I'm better than Usman.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Yeah, bigger for sure.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
Remember were still fighting at well to week middlewek.
Speaker 5 (04:55):
I've had twenty weeks to prepare for this guy.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Yeah, had time to get ready.
Speaker 5 (04:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
So is it a matter of extending the fight though?
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Is it like can you go through him earlier? Do
you have to make him fight longer? Because again, in
the first round of that fight, he was still held
on wheels for even Kamara Usman.
Speaker 5 (05:11):
I'm gonna come at him from the first second to
the last. I'm taking the fight to him the entire time.
That's how I win.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Yeah, You've been training a lot of wrestling in preparation
for this, I saw a video of you getting after it.
How how have you enjoyed being back on that type
of grinding with type of fight you hat in front.
Speaker 5 (05:26):
Of My back is sore, dude for Kiel Pennings and.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Told me that she goes, I hate wrestling. My back
and my neck are so sore from doing so much wrestling. Like,
but did you enjoy it getting.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Back to that?
Speaker 5 (05:39):
You know what? I enjoy It mights me strong.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Yeah, it feels strong here.
Speaker 5 (05:43):
Too, always, Yeah, like I feel strong. And then like
when you're in those date rounds, you know you're just
like I'm gonna kill you. Like, yeah, it brings something
out of you.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
It does it.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
It makes you strong and mentally because if you can
get through that wrestling workout like that, especially consistently, you
know that you.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Can get through a fight.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Tamaiah says he does respect you, right, and he's been
saying it publicly, but he doesn't believe that even though
you're doing this, and you've done this for a real
long time to the point that you put a single
it on and when Russell actual tournaments, he just does
not feel like you can compete with him in that
way is to implement that game plan on you like
to that what he say?
Speaker 5 (06:23):
Who found out? Yeah all right, like this is a fight.
Yeah we'll find out. Yeah, I've done everything. If he's
that good, then I'll find out. Yeah, Like I'm gonna
find out. And I'm excited for the test. I'm excited
to put myself up against someone that believes that because
(06:43):
I've beaten a lot of people that think they were
better than me, you know, And yeah, like every fight,
every hardship, every trial makes me better and this is
just another one.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
So I believe this is me.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
This is me.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
I believe that if you win this weekend you should
get a Do you think that if you win this
weekend you get a title fight?
Speaker 5 (07:03):
Definitely?
Speaker 2 (07:04):
But why why is.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
It that Sean Strickland has been determined the numb one
contender when he beat a guy that you beat and
then you went and fought two more times.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
So how do you make.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
The statement that you deserve the shot over him?
Speaker 5 (07:19):
I don't.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
I just don't really worry about it, like it's it
just to me, it doesn't seem logical.
Speaker 5 (07:24):
You say, that's like a whole side of fighting that
I don't really take note off really well, not because
it's it's for one, I didn't have a lot of
control over it too. I don't want to play those
games to get It's like politics almost, it really is,
and I don't want to play it. Yeah, I'm just
gonna do my job. I'm gonna go out there. I'm
(07:45):
gonna winning opens doors.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
But again, three wins. Paulo Costa, you beat. That was
a tough fight. I'll scare up you beat. If you
beat Hams out your mind, it would seem as though
it's the logical next step. You and Drake's due. Plus
he of history. He just beat Israel at a sign
you Are you surprised, because I mean a lot of
times I'm telling you, bro, like, I finally am done
(08:09):
overlooking this guy. It's some of the shit he does
that makes me want to There's a picture of him
with these like daisy dude shorts on, he said, on
the back of a truck. This dude's crazy dog dracs,
but he's a good fighter. He'd beat easy, submitted, Izzy.
Were you surprised that he was able to do that? Nah?
Speaker 5 (08:26):
Really well, Drink is one of those dudes I like,
I just feel like he's gonna win somehow.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
He does.
Speaker 5 (08:32):
If you don't get him out of there, somehow he's
gonna win. And that's the bab I got. I think
that was the best version of IS I was saying.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
I thought is He looked pretty good too, He looked great.
Speaker 5 (08:43):
I just think, like Drake and Snike's it awkward man,
and he just keeps coming at you.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Do you think that if you fight him again, though,
you would benefit from being in there before having a
feel Definitely, Yeah, but it times out your mind this weekend.
Speaker 5 (08:56):
Definitely.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
How do you see the fight going.
Speaker 5 (08:58):
I'm gonna look to hunt him to twenty five minutes.
I'm looking to take your head off far Brands to
do it.
The volume.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
You know it's the summer, and as you know, summer
means baseball.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
So once again I'm partnering up with our good friends
at the Draft Kings Sportsbook to bring all new customers
a fantastic offer. All you gotta do go to the
Draft Kings Sports Book, sign up using my promo code DCTV,
bet only five dollars more and will give you one
hundred and fifty dollars in bonus bets instantly. You can
bet on so many different things when it comes to baseball.
Let the Draft Kicks Boards Book. I'm talking home runs, strikeouts,
(00:33):
and bet your favorite team to win. So once again,
all new customers, go to the Draft Kicks Sports Book,
sign up using my promo code DCTV, bet five dollars
more and get one hundred and fifty dollars in bonus
bets instantly.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
When you're dealing with baseball, So Draft Kings Sportsbook, the
crown is yours and so is your favorite team in MLB.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
Let's go gambling problem called one a tendred gambler in
New York called eight seven seven an eight hope and
wire text hope and y four six seven three six
nine in Connecticut. Help is available for problem gambling called
eight eight eight seven eight nine seven seven seven seven
or visit CCPG dot org. Please play responsibly on behalf
of Boothill Casino in Resorting, Kansas twenty one on over
agent Eligibility varies by jurisdiction, void and Ontario New customers only.
(01:18):
Bonus petsickspire one hundred and sixty eight hours after issuance.
Four additional terms and responsible gaming resources see dkanng dot
co slash audio.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Robert Wicker, thanks for checking in with me again, Champ.
We're back again, and uh you just literally keep getting
better and keep working towards this goal. That last fight
gets Ali scaroff. I remember we sat down, Remember I
did the interview on my iPad because I didn't have
a camera, And you told me that you thought you
(01:56):
had figured out a way to get through this. Dude.
I'm like, well, he's this, this, and the other. You
beat him easier than anyone could have imagined. Like, was
that the expectation of the fight going in?
Speaker 5 (02:04):
Another expectation the hope, yes, the hope, yeah. Not the expectation.
The expectation was to groind it out for twenty five minutes. Yeah,
you know, I have wolves, that's what we trained for
and prepare for. But night like, it's just confidence in
the work that I'm putting in.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Yeah, you hit him with that night shot.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
He went when he went real and you your eyes
got bigca.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
You didn't rush though.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
That's the one thing that young fighters don't get, right.
They get somebody hurt and they just go crazy. You
took your time and you found it was it was
an upper cut, right, Yeah, they got him. Yeah, you
found the uppercut that got him. When you saw it hurt,
You're like, okay, take my time, let me find the shot.
Speaker 5 (02:40):
Yeah. The idea is hurt him and not let them recover, right, Yeah,
and then like you'll fund your moment.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
I always tell people, I said, it's not the first
one though. The first one hurts you. It's the follow
up shot that gets you, right, the one that comes after.
And it was like you hurt him, and then when
you went and you got him, I was like, oh
my god, Robert Whitaker that she was crazy. It's kind
of crazy how you managed to do it over and
over again. But you never released. You never released the
(03:06):
thought that you'd beat the champion. Even after drinkings, Duke
plus ce, you just right back to work. Now you're fighting.
Ham's out Jamaya of like I, me and your pops
are talking outside. He goes, he's due for an easy one.
I go, they don't get no easier once they get
no easier because they beat Jamayah.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Now you're fighting for the belt again.
Speaker 5 (03:21):
Yeah, it's uh, this is what I do. This is
what I sign up for. This is my duty to
my family, and this is how I put bread on
the table and I take that role very responsibly.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
So when you look at Jamaya, right, he was going
through these dudes like crazy.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
Right. He gets to.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
Ushman though, and it was much more difficult because no right,
no disrespect to Lee, no disrespect to these these these
first dudes he should have beat like that on Fight Island, right,
because they're just not very good. Uh mayor Shark, he
knocked him out. I was a bit surprised when he
gets to Usman, right, world class fighter? What did you
see in him in that fight? Opposed to what you
(03:57):
saw prior?
Speaker 5 (03:59):
I think you just what did I see?
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Good?
Speaker 3 (04:07):
Things that impressed you are things that you might have
went okay?
Speaker 5 (04:10):
Well, I think I think the first thing is like,
you need to respect his skill level, like he's he's
pushing a game plan on a world class fighter, on
a former champion level fighter that deserves respect. Like everyone
knows he was going to wrestle, he still did it. Yeah,
that deserves respect and I respect it. And that's why
(04:30):
I've trained my heart out for the last twenty weeks.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (04:35):
Right, But also he saw that Usman on a week
to notice he started catching up.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Yes, he did.
Speaker 5 (04:43):
In the third round, he started catching up.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
And You've got five rounds and.
Speaker 5 (04:47):
I've got five rounds and I think I'm better than Usman.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Yeah, bigger for sure.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
Remember were still fighting at well to week middlewek.
Speaker 5 (04:55):
I've had twenty weeks to prepare for this guy.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Yeah, had time to get ready.
Speaker 5 (04:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
So is it a matter of extending the fight though?
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Is it like can you go through him earlier? Do
you have to make him fight longer? Because again, in
the first round of that fight, he was still held
on wheels for even Kamara Usman.
Speaker 5 (05:11):
I'm gonna come at him from the first second to
the last. I'm taking the fight to him the entire time.
That's how I win.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Yeah, You've been training a lot of wrestling in preparation
for this, I saw a video of you getting after it.
How how have you enjoyed being back on that type
of grinding with type of fight you hat in front.
Speaker 5 (05:26):
Of My back is sore, dude for Kiel Pennings and.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Told me that she goes, I hate wrestling. My back
and my neck are so sore from doing so much wrestling. Like,
but did you enjoy it getting.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Back to that?
Speaker 5 (05:39):
You know what? I enjoy It mights me strong.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Yeah, it feels strong here.
Speaker 5 (05:43):
Too, always, Yeah, like I feel strong. And then like
when you're in those date rounds, you know you're just
like I'm gonna kill you. Like, yeah, it brings something
out of you.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
It does it.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
It makes you strong and mentally because if you can
get through that wrestling workout like that, especially consistently, you
know that you.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Can get through a fight.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Tamaiah says he does respect you, right, and he's been
saying it publicly, but he doesn't believe that even though
you're doing this, and you've done this for a real
long time to the point that you put a single
it on and when Russell actual tournaments, he just does
not feel like you can compete with him in that
way is to implement that game plan on you like
to that what he say?
Speaker 5 (06:23):
Who found out? Yeah all right, like this is a fight.
Yeah we'll find out. Yeah, I've done everything. If he's
that good, then I'll find out. Yeah, Like I'm gonna
find out. And I'm excited for the test. I'm excited
to put myself up against someone that believes that because
(06:43):
I've beaten a lot of people that think they were
better than me, you know, And yeah, like every fight,
every hardship, every trial makes me better and this is
just another one.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
So I believe this is me.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
This is me.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
I believe that if you win this weekend you should
get a Do you think that if you win this
weekend you get a title fight?
Speaker 5 (07:03):
Definitely?
Speaker 2 (07:04):
But why why is.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
It that Sean Strickland has been determined the numb one
contender when he beat a guy that you beat and
then you went and fought two more times.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
So how do you make.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
The statement that you deserve the shot over him?
Speaker 5 (07:19):
I don't.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
I just don't really worry about it, like it's it
just to me, it doesn't seem logical.
Speaker 5 (07:24):
You say, that's like a whole side of fighting that
I don't really take note off really well, not because
it's it's for one, I didn't have a lot of
control over it too. I don't want to play those
games to get It's like politics almost, it really is,
and I don't want to play it. Yeah, I'm just
gonna do my job. I'm gonna go out there. I'm
(07:45):
gonna winning opens doors.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
But again, three wins. Paulo Costa, you beat. That was
a tough fight. I'll scare up you beat. If you
beat Hams out your mind, it would seem as though
it's the logical next step. You and Drake's due. Plus
he of history. He just beat Israel at a sign
you Are you surprised, because I mean a lot of
times I'm telling you, bro, like, I finally am done
(08:09):
overlooking this guy. It's some of the shit he does
that makes me want to There's a picture of him
with these like daisy dude shorts on, he said, on
the back of a truck. This dude's crazy dog dracs,
but he's a good fighter. He'd beat easy, submitted, Izzy.
Were you surprised that he was able to do that? Nah?
Speaker 5 (08:26):
Really well, Drink is one of those dudes I like,
I just feel like he's gonna win somehow.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
He does.
Speaker 5 (08:32):
If you don't get him out of there, somehow he's
gonna win. And that's the bab I got. I think
that was the best version of IS I was saying.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
I thought is He looked pretty good too, He looked great.
Speaker 5 (08:43):
I just think, like Drake and Snike's it awkward man,
and he just keeps coming at you.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Do you think that if you fight him again, though,
you would benefit from being in there before having a
feel Definitely, Yeah, but it times out your mind this weekend.
Speaker 5 (08:56):
Definitely.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
How do you see the fight going.
Speaker 5 (08:58):
I'm gonna look to hunt him to twenty five minutes.
I'm looking to take your head off far Brands to
do it.
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Colin Cowherd
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