Robert Whittaker has grown accustomed to underestimation.
“The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes” winner at UFC on Fox 24 shined as an underdog -- he closed at +225, according to BetDSI.com -- and made a career-defining move in the Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight division, as he disposed of Ronaldo Souza with a second-round head kick and follow-up punches on Saturday at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri. Souza (-278) succumbed to blows 3:28 into Round 2.
Whittaker withstood a ground exchange with the two-time Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championships gold medalist in the first round, turned it into a standup-only affair and chipped away with precise punches.