Brendan Bradford from CODE Sports
There’s only one man in the middleweight division that Jacob Malkoun never wants to fight.
Jacob Malkoun is sizing up everyone in the middleweight division.
From ranked fighters to the top of tree, the Sydneysider wants all the smoke.
Well, almost all the smoke.
There’s one man the 28-year-old resolutely does not want to fight. Ever.
That’s his longtime training partner, and good mate Rob Whittaker.
Doesn’t matter what’s on the line, Malkoun says he’ll never step into the Octagon against the former 185-pound champion.
“Nah. No. We’re like brothers,” he says ahead of his fight with Cody Brundage in Las Vegas this weekend. “I’ve been training with him since I was 17, so, no … brothers.”
Whittaker has been there for every step of Malkoun’s MMA journey, and they’ve trained, rolled and sparred together for the past decade.
“I learn a lot from Rob,” Malkoun says. “Just the ups and downs, the challenges, barriers and learning things off him.
“I’m lucky to have him in the gym with me, and right from the start of my career as well. Now we’re just working hard and trying to get to the next level.”
They’ve been side-by-side along with coach Alex Prates for numerous gruelling training sessions with NRL clubs over the years too.
They’ve spent time wrestling with the Broncos and, most recently, with the Bulldogs, but Malkoun says the Panthers have been the most impressive outfit.
And the man nicknamed ‘Mamba’ in honour of Kobe Bryant, is backing Penrith for a three-peat this season.
“I’m with the Panthers,” he says. “We worked with them for a bit, and it just shows, they’re in their fourth year, trying to make another Grand Final, but they’re still hungry and looking to win it again.
“They’re just high-level athletes, and they’re already at that next level, which is where I’m trying to get to, so it was good to work with them.”
For all the highs Malkoun and Whittaker have shared, the pair have experienced their fair share of lows too.
Whittaker was in the crowd in Singapore last year when Malkoun dropped a contentious decision to Brendan Allen. The loss snapped a promising two-fight win streak, and despite bouncing back with a win in October, the Allen fight still burns.
“It’s getting worse, to be honest,” he says when asked about the Allen fight. “I was annoyed. I never spoke about it, but I think I won that fight.
“I’ll see the guy again though. He’s not going anywhere, and I’m not going anywhere. We’ll have a rematch and I’ll be even more dominant.”
Likewise, Malkoun saw Whittaker’s reaction to his shock loss to Dricus du Plessis in July.
“He’s taken it like a man,” he says. “He licked his wounds, and he’s back training in the gym and he’s already looking towards the next one.”
That result blew the middleweight division wide open, eventually allowing Sean Strickland to fight and beat Israel Adesanya and claim the title.
“Everyone was writing (Strickland) off, but I thought he had a good chance, to be honest,” Malkoun says. “Just the way he fights, his style, I just thought he’d match up well with Adesanya, and he did.
“It just shows. You’ve gotta believe in yourself, work hard and anything can happen.
“The division is wide open, I’ve just gotta keep winning and go through and barriers or challenges.
“I’m ready to smash this guy, get the win, smash the next guy, and smash the next guy after that.”
