The middleweight matchup was originally scheduled for UFC 275.
Take two on this fight between the two most recent UFC middleweight title challengers.
Former champion Robert Whittaker and Marvin Vettori have been rebooked for the promotion’s debut show in Paris. They were supposed to fight at next week’s UFC 275 card in Singapore, only for Whittaker to withdraw due to injury.
Whittaker (23-6) is coming off a close decision defeat to Israel Adesanya at UFC 271 in February. He’d previously won three in a row against Darren Till, Kelvin Gastelum, and upcoming title challenger Jared Cannonier. Back in 2017, ‘The Reaper’ won the interim title in his thrilling first meeting with Yoel Romero, then was elevated to full champ after Georges St-Pierre retired. Whittaker would lose the belt to Adesanya in 2019.
Vettori (18-5-1) was unable to unseat Adesanya atop the middleweight throne in his title shot last year at UFC 263. ‘The Italian Dream’ did get back in the win column afterward with an entertaining five-round decision over Paulo Costa in what was a light heavyweight bout. He’s also notably beaten Kevin Holland and Jack Hermansson, both in five-round main events.
UFC Paris is expected to feature a heavyweight main event between strikers Ciryl Gane and Tai Tuivasa. Also targeted for this event is a key women’s flyweight matchup between Manon Fiorot and Katlyn Chookagian.