Robert Whittaker may have missed out on reclaiming the UFC title from Israel Adesanya but the Australian slugger is still adamant he's the best middleweight in the world.
Whittaker lost his rematch with Adesanya at UFC 271 by unanimous decision and is 0-2 against the Nigerian-Kiwi, but the duo are clearly well ahead of the rest of the division.
And despite his failure to regain the title, Whittaker is more certain than ever that he's the best in the world.
"That's the key thing, how far I've come since the first fight but also how close the fight was and how it played out, how it felt when I was in there," Whittaker said.
"I know I didn't get the W, but I left with the belief I'm the best middleweight in the world. That's not a bad consolation prize.
"It feels good, but you know what feels better? Is that I'm not going to let anyone catch me. Every fight I'm getting better, you can see that, I can feel my skill set expanding and the ability to use those skills every single fight.
"I don't have a ceiling, I can't see a ceiling, I don't know when I'll stop getting better, and I look forward to the future, I look forward to showing that."
Whittaker was outpointed on the scorecards by Adesanya, who secured a close but unanimous decision victory.
It was certainly a much narrower result than their first meeting back in 2019, when Adesanya dominated Whittaker en route to a second round knockout victory.
Their first defeat nearly sent Whittaker into retirement. This time he's far more circumspect while trying to avoid dwelling on the loss.
"That stuff will keep you up at night. I'm good, I'm just enjoying my holiday. Holiday Rob is out, and he'll be out for a couple of weeks yet.
"Regular Rob has nothing on Holiday Rob, Holiday Rob is a ball of fun.
"I think I made him uncomfortable. Every hand exchange, I was beating him to the punch and every time he overextended or gave me an inch I would take him down.
"That ability to be so dynamic, it made me difficult to deal with. I'm happy with the gameplan me and my team worked on and how we executed."
Whittaker was also adamant he and Adesanya will fight again some day.
Adesanya's next defence will be against American Jared Cannonier, who scored a spectacular knockout over Derek Brunson on the undercard of UFC 271.
Whittaker's path to another title shot is less clear, although he's already been linked to a bout with former title challenger Marvin Vettori in the middle months of the year.
"I haven't really thought about it too much. I'll knock down the pins in front of me and eventually they'll run out of people and we'll do it again," Whittaker said.
"We're destined to do it one more time. It's a money fight for him as well, all eyes in the world would be on it again because of how close we are and how far ahead of the rest of the pack of we are."
Whittaker has toyed with the possibility of moving up to light-heavyweight but given such a move would likely be permanent he's unwilling to rush into anything.
"It's a possibility, but it has to be the right timing. The right things have to be in place for it to happen. It won't be spur of the moment, they're big boys and I'd have to make the change properly," Whittaker said.
"If I did go up I probably wouldn't go back to middleweight. But I'm a good middleweight and I'm only getting better at it. I'm very comfortable where I am right now."
