Former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker returns to the Octagon on February 6. The Australian fighter takes on Bogdan Guskov at the co-main event of UFC Sydney. The fight takes place at the Afterpay Arena in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
The UFC announced the match-up moments ago. Whittaker is currently ranked No. 11 in the UFC Media rankings and also No. 11 in the UFC Meta rankings. Meanwhile, Guskov is ranked at No.10 in both rankings.
Back At Home
For Robert Whittaker, it will be the first time since 2014 that he has fought in his hometown. Back then, he beat Clint Hester via TKO in the second round. It was at the time, Whittaker was still rising in the division and nowhere near a championship fight yet. Whittaker has been a fan favorite since his participation on The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes. The Australian fighter won the season by beating Bradley Scott in the finale. In his early UFC run, Whittaker won a couple of fights but also suffered two losses. He decided in 2014 to move up to the middleweight division. The best decision he made in his career. After winning his middleweight debut against Hester, Whittaker kept on winning. After beating both Derek Brunson and Jacaré Souza by TKO, he got a shot at the interim title against Yoel Romero.
Whittaker won and also beat Romero in the rematch. Because of Georges St.Pierre’s retirement, Whittaker was promoted to the undisputed champion. His first title defense came in Melbourne against the then-undefeated Israel Adesanya. Whittaker lost by knockout in the first round. He fought his way back to a rematch, winning three fights in a row, but Adesanya also won the second time. Whittaker stayed at the top of the division but lost matchups against later champions Dricus Du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev. Whittaker decided to leave the division and go to light-heavyweight earlier this year. In a successful debut, he beat Nikita Krylov via TKO in the third round. Now he takes on Bogdan Guskov.
Looking To Bounce Back
The 34-year-old Guskov started his professional MMA career in 2015 in Russia. The fighter from Uzbekistan racked up a record of 4-1 before signing with the Fight Nights Global promotion in Russia. In his debut, he beat Ilya Gunenko via knockout in the second round. It was his only fight for Fight Nights Global. Guskov went on to fight for various promotions and won lots of fights by knockout. After signing with MMA Series in 2022 and going 3-0 within four months, he got the call from the UFC to debut in Paris against Volkan Oezdemir. Guskov lost the debut fight by rear-naked choke submission in the first round, but after that went on a solid winning streak in the UFC.
He finished both Zac Pauga and Ryan Spann by knockout. After also finishing newcomer Billy Elekana he fought himself in the rankings knocking out Nikita Krylov last year in the first round. After a draw to former champion Jan Blachowicz, he was supposed to rematch the Polish fighter earlier this year. Instead, he saved the event in Abu Dhabi a week earlier to fight Magomed Ankalaev in the main event. Guskov lost by TKO in the fifth round and now takes on Robert Whittaker in Sydney. Guskov needs to defend his spot in the rankings and looks to win for the first time since July 2025.
UFC Sydney
- Quillan Salkilld vs. Benoît Saint Denis
- Bogdan Guskov vs. Robert Whittaker
- Marwan Rahiki vs. JooSang Yoo
Former Champion Robert Whittaker Co-Headlines at Home in Sydney