NEVADA: Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight contender Robert Whittaker becomes first Australian in history to win UFC gold as he defeated counterpart Yoel Romero to claim interim championship at UFC 213 on Sunday. After falling short in the initial two rounds, the Aussie fought back to claim a unanimous 48-47 points victory, which earns him a title unification bout with reigning UFC middleweight champion, Michael Bisping. Whittaker, talking about his encounter with the Cuban Olympian Romero, said: “The first two rounds were pretty rough, but this was a really good fight for me, at this time in my career.” Talking about his first round knee injury, the interim champion said that he suffered the injury during one of his training camps, which relapsed after a vicious leg kick from his opponent. Despite his misery, Whittaker continued to fight till the end stating that “champions are made of this stuff.” Talking about his next opponent, Bisping, Whittaker said he respected the current champion but no mercy would be shown once the two enter the octagon. “Michael is champion for a reason. I haven’t gotten any bad vibes from Michael. We have to fight now. And when we do, there’s going to be no mercy.” he said. Whittaker holds record for the longest current running win-streak in the UFC middleweight division.