Going into their interim Middleweight title fight at next weekend’s (Sat., July 8, 2017) UFC 213 in Las Vegas, Nevada, Robert Whittaker and Yoel Romero have one thing in common; a victory over Ronaldo Souza, which isn’t an easy thing to accomplish.

Sure, Whitaker made it look easier, knocking out “Jacare” in just under two rounds while “Soldier of God” barely squeaked out a split decision win which many felt could have and should’ve gone the other way.

For Robert, though, he doesn’t put too much thought into the difference in victories, as he says it means absolutely nothing.

“This isn’t video games,” Whittaker said during a recent media day presser via MMA Junkie. “It means nothing to me. Every fight and every matchup is different. And how people match up will effect the results drastically. You can have one fighter, may beat another fighter who beat another fighter. It doesn’t mean anything.”

One of Romero’s many strengths is his ability to control a bout, which has helped him earn eight straight wins inside the Octagon. Whittaker, however, feels his dictation of their title fight will prove to be key.

“But I’m going to control this fight. I think it’s going to be a smart fight, and whoever pushes their game plan on one another is going to win this fight,” he said. “You’ve got to dictate the pace. I have a set of skills that can do that, so we’ll see.”

At the end of the day, “The Reaper” is confident his hands will put plenty of hurt to wear Yoel’s stocky body down.

“I just see me putting too much hurt on him,” Whittaker said. “His will might be there, but the human body can only take so much damage. I’ve just got to get my hands on him, and I will do that,” he concluded.

Time will tell.

The winner is expected to face current division champion Michael Bisping later this year in a title unification match. To see who else is fighting at the stacked UFC 213 pay-per-view (PPV) event click here.