Robert Whiteford ‘f–king devastated’ by UFC release, unsure of fighting future

The mixed martial arts world is unpredictable no matter your station or vantage point. That’s not a lesson lost on Robert Whiteford, necessarily, but one he was reminded of this week. The one-time UFC featherweight was given his walking papers over the weekend, although he hadn’t competed since April.

Released @ufc this morning,truly grateful for the opportunities & memories,it was a blast ✌ ️

— Robert Whiteford (@Flyinjudoka) May 21, 2016

“Ah, s–t happens, doesn’t it? F–k, what can you do? Life goes on,” he told Ariel Helwani on Monday’s The MMA Hour.

The Scotsman is of two minds of his release. He confessed to being surprised at the decision itself, but when viewed in the greater context of head-scratching UFC moves and manuevers, perhaps not surprised at all. “Very surprised, but are you ever surprised with anything UFC does these days? Not really,” Whiteford noted. “But really, they do strange things, day in, day out, whether it’s for good or for bad. You take everything with a pinch of salt with the UFC. That’s the way I look at it.”

Whiteford certainly received the news as a bit of a shock. Nothing in particular prompted it, that he can discern, anyway. “I was away for the weekend with my girlfriend. She booked it for my birthday. My manager phone called me on Saturday morning whilst I was away for the weekend. I couldn’t believe it. I felt like ringing his neck,” he admitted. “The main reason is I’ve lost two in a row. You can’t really argue with that,” he continued. “There’s a lot of people been cut for two in a row and there’s been people cut for less than two fights in a row. You can’t really grumble with it.”

Whiteford, one of the first Scots to ever compete in the Octagon, is coming off of an April loss to Lucas Martins, a split decision that didn’t go his way at UFC Fight Night 86. The American Top Team product has no illusions about his last performance. As he saw it, it never went his way before the fight even started. Nothing looked good. To be let go now, in a way, seems entirely normal.

“My last fight with s–t, top to bottom,” he admitted. “As I said before, some times it’s just not your night to fight. I made that walkout to the Octagon. My ‘Flower of Scotland’ traditional homecoming music, it cut short. I entered the Octagon. Bruce Buffer announced my name, it cut out short. Things just weren’t adding up. Some times it just doesn’t go your way. I got f–ked over by a judge who scored it 30-27 Martins. I don’t know what planet he was on. Maybe he was trying some of the Amsterdam local brew.

“But I believe that things happen for a reason in this world. When bad luck comes, it usually comes in threes. That judge was just my third bad luck on the night.”

Justified or not, expected or not, Whiteford has strong emotions about his release. Trying to talk through …

continue reading in source www.mmafighting.com