If you haven’t heard by know, Robert Whittaker is a pretty big deal in his home country of Australia. So-much-so that the current Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight champion of the world just joined some rather elite company in setting a ticket sales record.
According to a local Australian newspaper, tickets for his upcoming title defense against Kelvin Gastelum — which is set for UFC 234 on Sunday, Feb. 10, 2018 inside Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia — sold out in just eight minutes.
In doing so, “The Reaper” joins the likes of music mega-stars Madonna, Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Rolling Stones who also sold out Rod Laver Arena in that time. According to the paper, Whittaker’s title fight may have even done it a bit faster than some of those acts.
The fight will be Whittaker’s first since UFC 225 where he successfully defended his 185-pound strap for the first time against Yoel Romero. After sitting on the sidelines with an injury, Whittaker went on to coach season 28 of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) opposite Gastelum.
“Bobby Knuckles” is currently riding a nine fight win streak and has yet to taste defeat since moving up to Middleweight back in 2014. As for Kelvin, he is coming off two impressive wins over former division champion Michael Bisping and Ronaldo Souza.
UFC 234 will also feature an intriguing 185-pound showdown between former champion Anderson Silva taking on rising contender, Israel Adesanya.