Robert Whittaker Reveals He Needs Surgery After UFC 225

This past weekend (Sat. June 9, 2018) in the main event of UFC 225 on pay-per-view (PPV), UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker defeated Yoel Romero in a non-title fight after five rounds of madness.

It was one of the most amazing middleweight title fights of all time, and certainly a candidate for ‘Fight of the Year.’ When it was all said and done, however, Whittaker noted that he suffered an injury to his hand as it had swollen significantly.

Just days later, The Australian reports that Whittaker did indeed suffer a clean broken thumb and will require surgery.

Whittaker commented on the matter and sounded optimistic about possibly fighting again before the end of the year, but was adamant about waiting until his body feels at 100 percent:

“Maybe I could be fighting at the end of the year but the hand has to feel 100 percent. I’ll take a fight when my body is good and ready. How long that will take will depend on the rehab process and how everything is going.”

The middleweight champ then described feeling the entire area from the tips of his fingers to his forearms go numb during the fight. Despite this, he pressed forward and carried on with his game-plan:

“I just remember a point where I couldn’t feel my hand from my fingertips to my forearm and I was like ‘well that’s not good,” he said. “It hampered me quite significantly but I stuck to the game plan. I shoved a stiff jab, good kicks, and it was working fine until he got a couple of good hits in.”