Australia’s former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker’s return to the octagon has been delayed, with the 31-year-old today revealing that he had suffered an injury at training.
Originally scheduled to fight Italy’s Marvin Vettori at UFC 275 in Singapore, that fight will now either be cancelled or go ahead at a later date.
“Sorry to say guys due to an injury I took early in the camp I’m not able to compete in June,” Whittaker wrote on multiple social media platforms.
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“I did everything I could to get it right but it’s not healing in time. All this means is that I’ll be back in the octagon a couple months later and I’ll be better than ever.”
Whittaker previously spent 16 months on the shelf between his win over Yoel Romero in 2018, and his first bout against Israel Adesanya, to whom he lost the title.
After winning his next three fights following that defeat, Whittaker’s much-anticipated re-match with the Kiwi resulted in a narrow decision loss.
It appears that Vettori caught wind of the news yesterday, tagging several other potential opponents in a vague tweet that left people confused, until Whittaker’s announcement today.
Both Whittaker and Vettori were targeting a return to the title scene after this fight – which makes the set back all the more frustrating for the Australian.
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