Was Robert Whittaker an electrician before the UFC?

Yes. Robert Whittaker told Joe Rogan he was a fourth-year electrical apprentice, about to sit his final capstone test, while fighting professionally on the local scene. When he was called up for The Ultimate Fighter he applied for annual leave to go on the show and never went back to the job. He joked that he wonders whether the position is still open.

Whittaker credits his wife, a former elite gymnast with a health science background, as his early nutritionist and strength and conditioning coach.
Whittaker said his wife taught him how important a strong core is for the dynamic movement of fighting.

▸In their words

“I was an electrician as I was kind of fighting on the local scenes.” Robert Whittaker · at 1:35:39 — open in the transcript →

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on The Joe Rogan Experience (2026-10-22). Read the whole episode summary →

▸More from this episode

Q1Why did Robert Whittaker move up to light heavyweight?Q2How does Robert Whittaker cut weight for light heavyweight fights?Q3What did Robert Whittaker say about Israel Adesanya on Joe Rogan?Q4What did Robert Whittaker say about Khamzat Chimaev beating Dricus du Plessis?Q5What does Robert Whittaker think about Carlos Prates drinking and smoking?Q7What do Robert Whittaker and Joe Rogan say about training skills while exhausted?Q8What does Joe Rogan think about the UFC cutting winning fighters for being boring?

Ask your own recordings. Upload a podcast, a lecture or a meeting and ask it questions like this one. Transcribe with Whipscribe →