Robert Whittaker is one of the most decorated mixed martial artists of this generation, but there was a time when he almost ventured into another martial art to compete against a prominent professional wrestler.

The former UFC middleweight champion, at one point, qualified for the 2018 Commonwealth Games to participate in their freestyle wrestling event. Another notable figure who had also qualified for that field was professional wrestling star Joe Hendry, who called out the UFC combatant upon finding out he would be competing in his same weight category.

In an interview with BBC Radio Scotland around that time period, Hendry said [via Bloody Elbow],

“What kind of athlete would I be if I didn’t call out the top guy. So, I, Joe Hendry, am calling out UFC champion, Robert Whittaker, so there you go. Commonwealth Games, I know there’s procedures, but let’s see if we can make one exception and make this match.”

Hendry’s catchphrase is ‘say his name and he appears’ but it was ‘Bobby Knuckles’ who would not appear after some thwarting from the Dana White-led MMA promotion. Whittaker would not end up competing in those Commonwealth Games, though, and in explaining why that freestyle wrestling foray did not transpire, Whittaker stated [via MMA Fighting],

“The UFC wasn’t too happy with my competing in the Commonwealth Games. I was told I would have been stripped of the title if I had gotten injured. Everyone knows my priority. This [UFC] is my job. It’s not really a choice to be made. If it’s a choice, providing finances and putting food on the table and being paid for my job, or competing in the Commonwealth Games where I’m not making money, is there really a choice to be made? I thought for an hour or two, but there was never a choice to be made.”

Robert Whittaker and Joe Hendry’s paths since that 2018 event

Hendry would end up finishing in ninth place at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, representing Team Scotland, and has since gone on to become one of the more exciting rising stars in professional wrestling. Joe Hendry has since gone on to capture the TNA world title and also wrestled Randy Orton at WWE WrestleMania 41 earlier this year in April.

Speaking of that month, since April 2018, when the Commonwealth Games were held, Robert Whittaker went on to defeat Yoel Romero in a rematch to stay the middleweight champ at UFC 225 before then losing the strap to Israel Adesanya at UFC 243 in late 2019.

Whittaker did put together a winning streak thereafter and then challenged for the 185-pound belt again versus Adesanya at UFC 271, with the former losing on points. But his return to the throne has some question marks around it as he is on a two-fight skid against current champion Khamzat Chimaev and surging contender Reinier de Ridder.