With glorious nicknames like “The Reaper” and “Bobby Knuckles,” perhaps Robert Whittaker was destined for greatness in hand-to-hand combat. The Australia-based Kiwi reached the pinnacle of his profession over the last 12 months, as he gave Oceania its first Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholder with wins over two-time Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championships gold medalist Ronaldo Souza and 2000 Olympic silver medalist Yoel Romero.
Those exploits gave Whittaker the slightest of edges over featherweight champion Max Holloway as the Sherdog.com “Fighter of the Year” for 2017.