MARK Hunt reckons, within a year, Robert Whittaker can become the UFC middleweight champion, saying: “The guy is an absolute monster”.

Speaking with Round 6 this week, Hunt said Whittaker would use his UFC 197 bout against Brazilian Rafael Natal to catapult into a megafight with one of the division’s biggest names.

Incredibly, Whittaker could then headline on home soil in November, with potential rivals including Anderson Silva, Michael Bisping, Vitor Belfort and Lyoto Machida.

Asked this week about Whittaker, Hunt replied: “The guy is an absolute monster.

“And it’s only a matter of time now before he starts doing some really great things in his division.

“I mean, geez, he can be the next middleweight world champion. Anything is possible for him.”

Led by Hunt and Whittaker, Australia is currently enjoying its strongest showing in the UFC with the pair ranked eighth and seventh in their respective divisions.

Elsewhere, adopted Aussie Hector Lombard is himself moving back to middleweight, where he will once again be seen as a legitimate title contender, while rising Melbourne star Jake Matthews is closing in on a top 15 spot within the lightweight division.

Indeed, speaking this week on Submission Radio, the 21-year-old insisted he could already beat Irish megastar Conor McGregor, saying: “I think in wrestling and on the ground I’d be too much for him ... I guarantee you Nate Diaz wouldn’t choke me out like that”.

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But who of this quartet, if any, will be first to challenge for a gold strap?

Should Whittaker fight to a similar schedule as his past three years, a place on Australia’s next UFC event in November — most likely at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne — is a definite possibility.

The top spot on that card, however, may still go to an overseas pairing with UFC Australia boss Tom Wright telling Round 6 he wants the card headed by “a world title eliminator”.

Should he beat Natal at UFC 197, Whittaker would still likely be two fights from a world title bout, meaning even success on the November card wouldn’t be enough to make him the No. 1 contender.

MATTHEWS MAKING MONEY

JAKE Matthews concedes he has one great weakness against Irish megastar Conor McGregor — shopping.

Despite earning a US$50,000 bonus in his most recent win, Matthews has told Round 6 not one cent of the bounty will be spent.

This, of course, is in stark contrast to McGrgeor, whose penchant for fast cars, alligator shoes and “tree-piece suits” is already the stuff of legend.

Asked this week how he was spending his UFC bonus, after a thrilling submission win over rising American Johnny Case, 21-year-old Matthews replied: “Bank.

“Then hopefully after my next win, I can start looking at buying an investment property.

“I know in this sport that any fight could be your last. So you have to make the most of it ... I don’t want to blow what money I do make.”

So you are no McGregor then?

“Ah, who knows?” he laughs. “Maybe if I was getting the sort of money Conor is I might go buy myself a Ferrari.

“But I’m not so much about the cars and three-piece suits, I want to get myself a house.

“In saying that, full credit to Conor because everything he has, he earned.

“He’s done incredibly well for himself. Only started in the UFC a short time before me.”

media_camera Matthews enjoyed the finest win of his career against Johnny Case in Brisbane.

DID TATE NEARLY RETIRE?

MIESHA Tate has revealed just how close she came to retirement before her epic run to the women’s bantamweight title.

Tate was reportedly thinking about leaving MMA after she was passed over for a title shot in favour of Holly Holm late last year and UFC President Dana White remarked at the time that it was “probably a good idea”.

“ I don’t think I was ever that close to retirement, it was just something that popped in my head in the heat of the moment, when you’re kind of thinking irrationally and you’re like’ I just don’t know anymore’ because I didn’t know if I would have the opportunity to fight for the title and then its like ‘what am I fighting for?’

“I’m not fighting for a participation ribbon, I’m fighting to prove I’m the best in the world and if that’s an opportunity they’re not ever going to let me have then what can I do?

“I definitely had the belief I could do it, always.”

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MATCH UP TO MAKE

UFC 200 has started to come together with the announcement this week of a rematch between Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor and an interim featherweight title bout between Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar. It seems as there is still much to come, with a co-main event yet to be announced.

Welterweight champion Robbie Lawler and lightweight king Rafael Dos Anjos seem the likeliest to fill the slot with Lawler rumoured to possibly face retired legend Georges St-Pierre or have a rematch of his epic January slugfest with Carlos Condit. Dos Anjos could tangle with former Bellator champ Eddie Alvarez or face the winner of April’s bout between Russian Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson. Which fight would like to see as the co-headliner for the landmark event?