Sky's the limit: Robert Whittaker believes his next fight should be for the UFC Middleweight title. Credit:Jessica Hromas "I've put the division on notice that I can stop anyone." If Whittaker's fellow fighters weren't already alert to the rising star, they certainly are now. Whittaker came into his fight with Souza as a massive outsider with the bookmakers, but made short work of the Brazilian, leaping above him, and others, to the No.3 spot in the contender's rankings in the process. His TKO victory was stunning, not just because he wasn't expected to win, but because his opponent hadn't been knocked out in nearly a decade. But for Whittaker, the reason behind the result was pretty straightforward. "I'm a different fighter. He'd never fought anyone like me. I knew what I was bringing to the table."

"Me going up against the world with Australia behind me and the Australian flag with me, it's my dream": Robert Whittaker. Credit:Jessica Hromas "I did something on the weekend that nobody in the top ten has ever done. I took [Souza] and I stopped him in devastating fashion." After racking up an impressive win record in other fighting promotions, Whittaker burst onto the UFC's radar in 2012, winning the reality show/fighting tournament, The Ultimate Fighter. From there, he had reasonable success as a welterweight before making the leap up to middleweight - and since then, he hasn't been beaten, accumulating six straight victories in his new weight class. Robert Whittaker has fought his way up to No.3 in the UFC's middleweight rankings. Credit:Darrian Traynor Despite his newfound winning streak, he attributes much of that success to back-to-back losses back in 2013 and 2014 to Court McGee and Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson.

"That set a change in motion, it really did. It made me sit back on my heels and go 'what do I need to change, what do I need to do?' I corrected everything. I stopped going away from home, I surrounded myself with smart people and people who care for me, and now I have the best team in the world. I'm unstoppable." With a title fight not assured, and the future of the belt up in the air, in terms of who the champion will be in a few months, Whittaker makes it clear that his focus is on the gold, not the man holding it. "I'm not after Bisping. I'm after that belt. If Bisping gives it to his neighbour, I'll fight his neighbour. I want that belt and I think I've earned the right to get that belt." Born a diehard rugby league fan with dreams of playing for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, Whittaker took to martial arts at an early age and quickly discovered he had a knack for it.

"My father and mother put me into karate at age seven, and it was a natural progression over the years, doing karate, then Hapkido then jiu-jitsu." The Southern Cross tattoo on his chest reminds him of those rugby league dreams, and he says he feels the pride of a nation behind him with every contest. "Me going up against the world with Australia behind me and the Australian flag with me, it's my dream. I love going out there and knowing I'm representing the nation and making people proud. "When I was a kid I wanted to play first grade NRL. And the apex of that sport is putting on the green and gold. And I feel like this is what I'm doing now, every time I go out on the world stage I'm putting on the green and gold.

Australia is enjoying somewhat of a 'golden age' in the UFC, with Whittaker joined on the middleweight rankings by Victorian Dan Kelly, and Tyson Pedro and Mark Hunt also entrenched in the top 15 in their divisions. "I trained with Dan a little bit in the last prep and he's a cool dude. I'm a huge fan of Mark Hunt, grew up watching him...I still get star struck every time he messages me! "I'm behind all the Australians. We're all on the same team." In addition to winning all six of his middleweight fights, it's the impressive nature of these victories that has seen his stock rise and rise. Whittaker was awarded "Performance of the Night' for his win over Jacare, his third in his last five fights. He was also awarded the prize for 'Fight of the Night' in Sydney in 2014, when he made his debut in the weight class, beating Clint Hester, and again in Melbourne in 2016 when he defeated Derek Brunson. Each of those bonuses netted him a tidy $50,000 US.

Loading If his next fight is not for the title, he will in all likelihood face off against either Yoel Romero, Luke Rockhold or Gegard Mousasi - but who could stop him? According to the Aussie, that answer is easy. "No one, that's my honest belief. Everyone doubted me with Jacare and I put him away. I'm in top form and I think people don't realise that we down here are legit, we've got skill sets and we're good fighters."