BREAKING: Robert Whittaker out of UFC 234 title fight against Kelvin Gastelum
UFC 234 already appeared to be thin on talent, well it has taken another hit as ESPN’s Brett Okamoto is reporting, Robert Whittaker, is out of the title fight due to an injury.
BREAKING NEWS: Robert Whittaker is OUT of his middleweight title defense against Kevin Gastelum. pic.twitter.com/ZfPUEn9YQM
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) February 9, 2019
“Alright guys, it’s 7 a.m. local time in Melbourne, Australia. The doors open for the first fights of UFC 234 are just hours away from the Rod Laver Arena,” Okamoto said. “And, I just got off the phone with UFC President Dana White who tells me, Robert Whittaker, the Australian champion who fights out of Sydney who takes on Kelvin Gastelum, is out due to a hernia in his abdomen. Late last night, around midnight he started to complain about pain in his abdomen and was taken to the hospital. He was diagnosed with a hernia. I’m told it was not weight-cutting related issue or anything like that. Just very unfortunate hernia issue which may require a procedure now to address this medical issue.
“Lucikly, the UFC has a great co-main event,” he added. “We have been talking about it all week, as it is Anderson Silva vs Israel Adesanya. That fight has actually overshadowed the main event at times this week. Of course, it is a massive blow to Robert Whittaker as he was supposed to defend his title last year in Australia but wasn’t able to do so due to injury. History has repeated itself as he is out of UFC 234 just hours before the event was scheduled.”
Okamoto is now reporting Whittaker is going for surgery today to repair a hernia.
Whittaker was looking for his first title defense and was fighting at home in the main event. He last fought in June of 2018 where he defeated Yoel Romero by split-decision. Kelvin Gastelum, meanwhile, was set to fight for the title for the first time of his career as he is riding a two-fight winning streak.
The updated UFC 234 fight card is as follows.
Here is the new UFC 234 lineup. Absolutely gutted for Robert Whittaker. Man. pic.twitter.com/hv2rEPjifF
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) February 9, 2019
