Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight champion, Robert Whittaker, is expected to make his Octagon return this summer after a bizarre medical emergency bounced him from the UFC 234 pay-per-view (PPV) main event back in February.
I guess the promotion wasn’t feeling overly optimistic about his chances, or perhaps the goal was to have a back-up plan in case “The Reaper” suffered another setback, which may explain why Kelvin Gastelum is scheduled to fight Israel Adesanya for the interim strap.
Either way, the champ is back in the gym.
“The journey back to the Octagon has begun,” Whittaker wrote on Facebook. “Very happy to be back into full training now! Thanks to all my team and supporters for everything.”
Whittaker has a history of fight-canceling illnesses.
Adesanya is currently the odds-on favorite to topple Gastelum when they collide in the UFC 236 co-main event on Sat., April 13, 2019 inside State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. For much more on that upcoming showdown click here.