At the time of publishing that honour goes to Robert Whittaker who on the weekend had his 22nd UFC fight, which is one ahead of New Zealand’s Dan Hooker who has stepped into the octagon 21 times, while Jake Matthews, the youngest of the three has made 20 appearances thus far.
Whittaker also holds the record locally for most consecutive years competing in the UFC, having competed every year since his octagon debut in 2012.
After competing locally, most notably in the now defunct Cage Fighting Championships, Whittaker won his way to a UFC contract in 2012 as he took out the Ultimate Fighter: Nations season which featured Australian and U.K fighters.
Whittaker’s TUF finale bout took place on the UFC on FX 6 event on Queensland’s Gold Coast which was headlined by a lightweight clash between coaches Ross Pearson and George Sotiropoulos. Whittaker won UF Nations with a decision win against Brad Scott on the card.
While Whittaker had a mixed start to his UFC career (3-2), a move to the middleweight division proved the right formula as Whittaker went on an eight-fight win streak to capture the championship belt.
Although he has since lost the title, he continues to remain a top contender within the middleweight ranks as looks to earn another shot at the title.
His entertaining style has earned him a total of nine Fight of the Night/Performance of the Night bonuses throughout his career.
