ROBERT Whittaker is ready to become the fresh, new face of Australian sport after the UFC this week signed off on a historic free-to-air TV deal with Channel 10.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal Whittaker, the reigning UFC middleweight champ, is set to receive a massive boost to his profile after Channel 10 agreed to air every episode of reality TV show The Ultimate Fighter: 28 — on which Whittaker stars as guest coach.

As part of the deal, Network Ten will also show a pair of UFC events live on consecutive days in December.

Apart from broadcasting the famed reality series, the station has agreed to air the TUF Finale live from Las Vegas on December 1, plus Australia’s next UFC event which takes place in Adelaide the following day.

media_camera Australian UFC fighter Rob Whittaker, the world middleweight champion, at home in Las Vegas.

All three programs will be shown on the station’s digital channel, One.

The landmark agreement represents a huge boost not only for the sport of Mixed Martial Arts but Whittaker, affectionately dubbed Bobby Knuckles by fight fans.

For the past eight weeks, the 27-year-old Sydneysider has been bunkered down in a Las Vegas mansion while coaching a team of UFC wannabes for the latest instalment of TUF.

The reality program pits two teams of fighters against one another in a series of elimination contests.

Whittaker was joined on set by rival coach and fellow middleweight American Kelvin Gastelum, who will also now challenge for the Australian’s middleweight strap early in 2019.

After filming for the show wound up this week, Whittaker and his team then moved to a private Colorado training camp where they will spend the next few days working out at altitude.

media_camera Australian UFC fighter Rob Whittaker with family at home in Las Vegas.

Speaking on Tuesday from the US, Australia’s first UFC champ described the new TV deal as “amazing”.

“This is going to give Mixed Martial Arts huge exposure,” Whittaker said. “Over the past couple of years, the sport has been growing steadily but it’s this sort of commitment from a TV network that really is vital.

“Its huge for the sport.

“There’s a bit of an MMA explosion here in Australia at the moment and it’s great to be part of that.”

The Ultimate Fighter 28 will air Thursday nights on One from 9.30pm.

After a week of training at altitude, Whittaker will return home for some TUF promotional work plus a pair of speaking engagements which will take place over consecutive days in Perth and Sydney from September 6.

For the duration of TUF filming, UFC boss Dana White gifted Whittaker the exclusive use of a luxurious Las Vegas mansion.

Located a short drive off the strip, the two-storey home boasted seven bedrooms, seven bathrooms, a games room and gigantic swimming pool set among palm trees.

All up, Team Whittaker numbered a dozen, with the champ not only taking his wife Sofia and three children, but his younger brother and sister, his father and a tight-knit training team who also worked with him on the show.

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