Robert Whittaker vows to come back stronger from his latest setback.

Whittaker is coming off a second-round TKO defeat to Dricus du Plessis at UFC 290 this past weekend. “The Reaper” was a massive favorite going into the fight and a win would have set up a trilogy with Israel Adesanya at UFC 293.

Instead, Du Plessis earned the biggest win of his career as after winning the first round, he dropped Whittaker with a jab in the second. The Aussie tried to recover but was met with a barrage of strikes from Du Plessis who eventually got the victory.

It was Whittaker's first defeat to a non-Adesanya opponent since moving up to middleweight back in 2014 — but he remained classy as he released his first statement.

“Congratulations to Dricus,” Whittaker said in a video posted to Twitter (via MMA Fighting). “He showed up to fight, I didn’t (laughs). That’s the nature of the beast. You can’t have a day off. Is what it is.

“I will say that I do believe challenges and hardships and obstacles that get presented to you that you overcome make you stronger. Build character, make you a better man and by fact a better athlete.”

Whittaker even plans to bounce back before the end of the year as he hopes to close 2023 with a win.

“I will come back stronger from this,” Whittaker added. “I’ll come back hopefully by the end of the year. I want to get in the octagon by the end of the year to get in there, close the year on a win, and bring back the ‘Reaper’ you guys all know.

“But that’s me. I’m gonna enjoy a couple weeks now with my family just resting and recalibrating, recharging the batteries. Then I’ll get back in the gym, get back to work, and come back better than ever. Thanks again, everybody, and stay tuned.”