Robert Whittaker Out Until 2019 With Injury
Robert Whittaker has shared some unfortunate news that will put him on the sidelines until next year.
If you recall, Whittaker won the interim title when he beat Yoel Romero back at UFC 213 in July of 2017 by unanimous decision then moving along to the main event of the main card for the UFC 225 pay-per-view event at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, Romero suffered a devastating split decision loss to Whittaker.
The UFC middleweight champion recently appeared on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show on ESPN where he revealed that he had surgery on his broken hand that he suffered in his rematch with Romero and that he’ll likely be sidelined until February of next year. Whittaker did note that although he’ll be on the sidelines for a bit, he is eyeing his next fight to take place in Australia.
“It’s still only several weeks from surgery so I’m still working on it,” Whittaker said (transcript courtesy of MMA Fighting). “I can’t even start a rehab process yet, it’s more of just letting it heal and letting it set properly first before I can even implement that.
“They put a plate and some screws (in it). People don’t know this but also I did ligament damage in my left hand but obviously the attention was drawn to the broken one. . .
“I definitely won’t be ready before next year. My hand rehab – both hands – I have to get to 100% with my hands before I can start rehab. The healing process has to be done before I can even start a rehab program and then I need strengthen my hand up to 100%. Then, one I’m a 100% percent, I’d like to get a little bit of training done. Realistically, I’m looking at like February of next year.”
“If the timeline works out and I can have an Australian card and an Australian fight in my home country, I would absolutely love that,” Whittaker concluded. “I missed my chance early this year but we’ll have to see where the cards fall.”
The UFC has already announced that once Whittaker is healthy enough to fight again, he will make his next title defense against top contender Kelvin Gastelum although an official date and venue has not been announced as well as coach the upcoming The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 28 opposite of Gastelum.
