What Martial Arts Does Robert Whittaker Use In The UFC?

Robert Whittaker is possibly one of the most underrated MMA fighters ever and what makes him more likable is his use of traditional martial arts. In the modern MMA era, many fans and fighters shun certain disciplines such as Hapkido and Karate, but not Whittaker. In fact, he embraces them. In some ways, this is what makes his style so fun to watch. It also helps that he hits like a truck and has an endearing backstory.

What’s interesting about Whittaker is that he’s also very versatile. Whilst he may have the nickname of ‘Bobby Knuckles’, you would be naive to think that he’s just a striker. He may be best on his feet, but he’s also a very good grappler which means he’s a well-rounded fighter without many weaknesses. Read on for more information.

What Martial Arts Does Robert Whittaker Use?

Karate

The first martial art that Whittaker learned was Karate and he earned his black belt in his teenage years. Specifically, Whittaker trained Goju Ryu which is one of the Okinawan styles. It’s also big on strength and conditioning drills which would make for a great base to help his body cope with the physicality of MMA training.

Karate is about strikes using the legs and arms, and this can clearly be seen in the style of Whittaker. It’s no secret that he hits hard and this probably developed from his earlier years of training Karate. Further evidence of his Karate education can be seen in MMA, where he often switches between a Karate and boxing stance whilst fighting.

Often, he will use his Karate from a distance to unload powerful head kicks on his opponents. Sadly, Karate doesn’t get much respect these days from MMA fans, but Whittaker is one of the few fighters who keeps its legacy alive on the biggest stage of them all, the UFC.

Hapkido

After training for several years in Karate, Whittaker eventually switched to train Hapkido, which eventually led him to Hapkido. As a teen, he trained under Henry Perez, who owned a Hapkido gym at the time. This would be the second black belt that Whittaker would achieve, this time as an adult. For those wondering, Hapkido actually has a lot in common with MMA, albeit it’s less slimmed down.

In other words, Hapkido could be described as an earlier form of MMA with a very broad curriculum which in some cases even teaches about weapon defense. Regardless, it seems that the Hapkido taught to Whittaker was very effective and unlike some gyms, was definitely not watered down. Eventually, Perez decided to turn his gym into an MMA school which is where Whittaker really fell in love with martial arts. Remember, at this time the Australian MMA scene and martial arts culture wasn’t quite as it is today in terms of development.

So, in learning Hapkido, Whittaker would have had a general overview of MMA where he would be introduced to submissions, grappling, and striking which are all used in MMA.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

The third black belt that Robert Whittaker would receive was his black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. This time, he would get this aged 30, after years of MMA and UFC fights. He was given this by Alex Prates and at this point was a very accomplished grappler. Interestingly, Whittaker never really showed his submission prowess in the UFC, but instead used it to avoid dangerous situations on the ground. However, whilst fighting professional MMA in his early 20s back in Australia, Whittaker showed a clear knowledge of BJJ.

Here, he won 5 of his first 7 fights by submission, being made up of armbars and rear naked choke finishes. The reason he doesn’t submit people in the UFC is purely strategic, as he prefers to stand and win by knockout or unanimous decision, but this doesn’t mean he can’t grapple. As seen in the video below, a brown belt Whittaker wins a BJJ match in the gi. Generally speaking, it’s quite rare for MMA fighters to train or compete BJJ in the gi as it’s seen as unrealistic, but this shows how much of a true martial artist Whittaker is.

Wrestling

More evidence of Whittaker’s grappling can be seen by the fact that he made the Australian Commonwealth wrestling team. Whilst Australia isn’t exactly known for its wrestling scene, it’s still a massive accomplishment for Whittaker to get on the team. Over the years, Whittaker has also won various Australian wrestling tournaments which further shows his skills.

In MMA, Whittaker uses wrestling like a lot of fighters which is from a defensive standpoint. Often, he will grapple to avoid takedowns as his striking is so good which puts the bout in his favor. However, he does also use takedowns when needed which match with his striking abilities nicely. As you may have figured by now, when it comes to martial arts, Whittaker is truly well-rounded and doesn’t really have any weaknesses of note.

Boxing

As his nickname ‘Bobby Knuckles’ suggests, Robert Whittaker can throw punches. When he gets into a close range with his opponents, Whittaker will often rely on conventional boxing to punch them in the face. This means pain for his opponents as his punches are very powerful, which fits nicely with his Karate. Of course, Whittaker also uses boxing to defend as well.

When thinking about boxing, most people imagine punches but there’s a lot to be said about his footwork. Here, he uses boxing to quickly dodge strikes and get out of bad positions whilst standing. Combined with his other martial arts, boxing is yet another example of strings to his bow and proves how truly versatile he is.

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