Robert Whittaker says ‘there were other names thrown in the hat’ before Bogdan Guskov at UFC Sydney

Robert Whittaker is returning to the octagon, and to Sydney for a fight.

The UFC announced that Whittaker is set to make his second light heavyweight appearance against Bogdan Guskov in the co-main event of UFC Sydney, which takes place Feb. 6 at Afterpay Arena.

“12 years is a long time,” Whittaker said on his podcast. “2014. I don’t think I had any kids then. That’s a very different Rob. That’s wild. …

“I think it’s cool to finally come back to Sydney after 12 years. I’ve climbed every mountain, I’ve done a lot of stuff, had a lot of battles and wars, and now I’m coming back to Sydney older, more mature, heavier, but just as sharp. I can’t wait to get in there.”

Whittaker faces Guskov, who recently was dominated and stopped by Magomed Ankalaev in the main event of July’s UFC Abu Dhabi card.

The former middleweight champ is coming off of a successful move to 205 with a third-round knockout of Nikita Krylov at UFC 329 in July, and is happy to get in there with somebody who he believes presents a lot of danger.

“As for rankings, I don’t even know how the Meta ones work,” Whittaker explained. “It doesn’t matter who you fight just as long as you fight well, which is cool — and consistently, I guess.

“But Bogdan’s a dangerous guy. He’s tall. He’s rangy. He’s got light heavyweight power, if he gets a shot on me, it’s going to hurt. If light heavyweights hit you, big, tall guys, 6’3” guys that weigh 110 kilos, it’s going to hurt. The game plan is the same: Hit and don’t get hit. Keep it very simple. It’s going to be fun.”

Whittaker appreciates Guskov taking the opportunity and heading to Australia to face him, but says there were other names offered to him before Guskov signed the dotted line.

“Props to Bogdan,” Whittaker said. “There were other names thrown in the hat. Everyone was either tied up or had excuses why they couldn’t do it, yada yada yada. We got to where we are. Someone took the fight, flying all the way to Sydney to do it. It’s going to be great.”