Robert Whittaker pulls out of UFC 234 main event due to hernia
Robert Whittaker pulled out of his scheduled middleweight championship fight at UFC 234 against Kelvin Gastelum due to a hernia in his abdomen, ESPN's Brett Okamoto reports.
Whittaker will undergo surgery Saturday, UFC president Dana White confirmed to Okamoto.
Whittaker was taken to hospital on Saturday morning, a source told ESPN's Ariel Helwani. He reportedly began getting abdominal cramps and later started vomiting before undergoing tests and scans at the hospital.
Here is the new UFC 234 lineup. Absolutely gutted for Robert Whittaker. Man. pic.twitter.com/hv2rEPjifF
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) February 9, 2019
There's been no discussion to keep Gastelum on the card, his manager, Ali Abdelaziz said on ESPN Radio.
Abdelaziz said White told him that the UFC will "take care" of Gastelum.
Whittaker was set to defend his title for the first time since becoming interim champion at UFC 213. He was promoted to undisputed champion in December 2017, when Georges St-Pierre vacated the title.
The 28-year-old was scheduled to defend his belt against Yoel Romero at UFC 225, but the fight was changed to a non-title bout after Romero missed weight.