Rob Whittaker's camp is keen for a showdown with Paul Gallen, after the former NRL star called out the UFC champion on Wednesday night.
After beating Mark Hunt at Bankwest Stadium to maintain his undefeated record, Gallen was asked who was in his sights for his next fight.
And it was clear one name had been on his mind for some time.
"Rob Whittaker, I watched you a year ago, you had an interview and were asked if you would fight me, you said 'yeah, I would fight him but he wouldn't fight me'," Gallen said after the fight.
"You gave a condescending laugh. I'm here now and I'm happy to meet you in here but stop pricing yourself out of it.
"I got nothing but respect for him. I know him reasonably well but I'm going to beat him
"I'm going to beat him like I did Mark Hunt.
"I'm going to train hard, prepare for it and I'm going to have a good game plan. I'm going to get in there and smash him."
Whittaker, a former UFC middleweight champion, could be in the ring with Gallen sooner rather than later.
"We're absolutely (keen)," Whittaker's manager Titus Day told News Corp.
"There's a lot of moving parts. There'd have to be approval from the UFC and the timing would have to work, but I think it'd be a great fight for sure.
"… I think (Gallen would) be a good opponent. In an MMA fight he'd probably last about three seconds but in a boxing match — Rob's a very skilled boxer — but Gallen, he's tough. I think it'd be a good, hard fight and very interesting."
Whittaker's next fight is still up in the air, but Day hopes a bout with Gallen will fit in around his UFC commitments.
"Rob will have to work within UFC timelines – that's his main priority obviously," Day said, "But if we could work a boxing match with Gallen in before or after his next fight, we'd 100 percent do that."
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