Dana White Details Robert Whittaker’s Serious Condition After Staph Infection
It’s been well documented that UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker has been forced to withdraw from his first title defense against Luke Rockhold at UFC 221.
The news was made official earlier this month. The promotion already has a replacement for the champion as an interim title bout between top contenders Rockhold and Yoel Romero will take place at the upcoming pay-per-view event.
UFC President Dana White has shed some light on this situation and it’s pretty scary.
White told TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter following Saturday’s UFC 220 event that Whittaker was dealing with a staph infection in his stomach. What’s bad is that it did not receive proper treatment. Thus, the middleweight champion is in serious condition.
“He had staph infection in his stomach,” White said (transcript courtesy of MMA Junkie). “From what I understand it wasn’t treated properly and started to eat away at parts of his organs.
He’s in serious condition, so it’s going to be a minute before he’s back, I think. Hopefully it turns around quick, but that stuff is life threatening if not treated the right way.”
Whittaker won the interim title when he beat Romero back at UFC 213 in July. Then the promotion made him the champion after Georges St-Pierre vacated the strap due to a medical condition in December after beating Michael Bisping at UFC 217 to win it.
UFC 221 is set to take place on Saturday, February 10, 2018, at Perth Arena in Perth, Western Australia.
The main card will air on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET while the preliminary card will air on FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET and the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass.
