Luke Rockhold may be fighting one of the biggest match-ups of his illustrious career tomorrow night, but it appears he’s not above having a little fun before he does so. Set to take on Yoel Romero for the interim middleweight championship in the main event of this weekend’s (Sun., February 11, 2018) UFC 221 from the Perth […]
Luke Rockhold may be fighting one of the biggest match-ups of his illustrious career tomorrow night, but it appears he’s not above having a little fun before he does so.
Set to take on Yoel Romero for the interim middleweight championship in the main event of this weekend’s (Sun., February 11, 2018) UFC 221 from the Perth Arena in Perth, Australia, Rockhold made quite the entrance by riding a camel into the UFC 221 open workouts.
But hey, at least he wore his helmet. Watch the scene courtesy of Submission Radio right here:
Robert Whittaker has detailed the illness that knocked him out of the UFC 221 main event. Whittaker was originally scheduled to defend his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight title this Saturday night (Feb. 10) against Luke Rockhold. A st…
Robert Whittaker has detailed the illness that knocked him out of the UFC 221 main event. Whittaker was originally scheduled to defend his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight title this Saturday night (Feb. 10) against Luke Rockhold. A staph infection ruled Whittaker off the card. Rockhold will meet Yoel Romero for the interim 185-pound title. […]
This Saturday’s UFC 221 event in Perth, Australia, was built around built around one thing: the homecoming of UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker. So naturally, it was a big shame when Bobby Knuckles was forced to withdraw from the fight three w…
This Saturday’s UFC 221 event in Perth, Australia, was built around built around one thing: the homecoming of UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker. So naturally, it was a big shame when Bobby Knuckles was forced to withdraw from the fight three weeks ago and somewhat scary when UFC President Dana White stated that the fight was scrapped due to a serious health issue.
In the days since, the champ has been fairly quiet about what exactly happened. That changed Monday, with an appearance on The MMA Hour where he detailed the series of issues that forced his withdrawal from the bout.
“I had an abscess on my bum, and it was infected, like a big puss buildup,” Whittaker stated (h/t MMA Fighting‘s Shaun Al-Shatti for the transcription). “And the antibiotics, when you take long courses of that antibiotic, you can develop a colon bug. … I had to get a whole bunch of colon tests and stomach tests to make sure that there’s no hole in my stomach.”
On its own, the abscess was serious enough that it had Whittaker on antibiotics for weeks. Things went from bad to worse, however, as he came down with a case of the chickenpox. While chickenpox in children is a relatively minor ailment, it is debilitating and potentially deadly for adults.
“When I thought of chicken pox before what I’ve just been through, I thought of, you know, little red dots all over your body and they’re itchy,” he said. “No, these were like blisters from head to toe all over my scalp, and because I had so many, some of them were popping and getting infected, and then there were fevers and headaches and nausea.”
Despite those issues, Whittaker remained committed to competing at UFC 221 and discussed how he had toughed out injuries in many of his previous fights (including working through an MCL tear sustained before his UFC 213 bout with Yoel Romero). He didn’t decide to withdraw, however, until his family and coaching staff had a sit-down with him.
“My coaching staff came to me, my family came to me…almost like an intervention, and said, ‘Rob, there is zero chance you’re going to be able to fight,'” he recounted earlier in the interview. “‘Even if you did get in there, it is so unsafe for you to go out there with no prep and your body as weak as it is.’ And I have to listen to them. I have to listen to my coaching staff, that’s what they do, and that was the call.”
UFC 221 will continue on without Whittaker with Romero stepping in to face top contender Luke Rockhold. While the champ did everything in his power to compete and still seems to be disappointed in how everything crashed down, there was a silver lining, as withdrawing from the fight allowed Whittaker to be present for the birth of his daughter.
All in all, the maladies won’t keep Whittaker out of action for too long as he targets a return this summer. Hopefully, he will be back to full speed before long.
Robert Whittaker has broken his silence on the staph infection that put him out of action. Back in July 2017, Whittaker took on Yoel Romero for the interim Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight title. After five hard-fought rounds, Whittake…
Robert Whittaker has broken his silence on the staph infection that put him out of action. Back in July 2017, Whittaker took on Yoel Romero for the interim Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight title. After five hard-fought rounds, Whittaker captured the gold via unanimous decision. “The Reaper” was promoted to undisputed champion when Georges St-Pierre […]
UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker has addressed his recent health scare. As a result of this medical issue, he was forced to withdraw from his first title defense against Luke Rockhold at UFC 221. The promotion already has a replacement for the champion as an interim title bout between top contenders Rockhold and Yoel Romero […]
UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker has addressed his recent health scare.
As a result of this medical issue, he was forced to withdraw from his first title defense against Luke Rockhold at UFC 221. The promotion already has a replacement for the champion as an interim title bout between top contenders Rockhold and Yoel Romero will take place at the upcoming pay-per-view event.
UFC President Dana White revealed in a recent interview that Whittaker was dealing with a staph infection in his stomach and did not receive proper treatment.
Whittaker talked about the scare during the UFC 221 open workouts (video via Submission Radio) in Sydney, Australia.
“Everyone knows I like to fight injured,” said Whittaker (transcript courtesy of MMA Fighting). “Half the fights I’ve taken I’ve always been injured. Just before I got ill, I pulled my hamstring. We could work around it, and we were doing things to compensate for it, we were working around it, but then I got a really bad infection, and the infection and the antibiotics just took it out of me.
I was really struggling to recover and then right at the end of the infection, I got the chickenpox [laughs]. That’s why I’ve got the scars all over my face. It was an absolute mess. If anyone’s had it, it’s just horrible [laughs].”
”When they offered this outcome to me I was delighted,” said Whittaker. “The number one and number two contenders get to bash each other, and I was just like, ‘Yes. Good. Please.’
As a fan of this sport, I would’ve paid to watch this fight. This is a fight I think people want to see, and I’m more than happy to bash Yoel again, or I’m more than happy to give it to Rockhold as well. We’ll see.”
Whittaker won the interim title when he beat Romero back at UFC 213 in July. Then the promotion made him the champion after Georges St-Pierre vacated the strap due to a medical condition in December after beating Michael Bisping at UFC 217 to win it.
The middleweight champ noted in the interview that he is hoping that he can defend his title against the winner sometime mid-year.
”I’m just focused on recovering,” Whittaker said. “I’m gonna let Yoel and Rockhold punch it out a bit, but things are good, and I’m looking for a big return mid-year. So let’s see what happens.”
Luke Rockhold’s quest to regain his UFC middleweight title was recently put on hold when champion Robert Whittaker was forced out of their scheduled UFC 221 main event on February 10 from Perth, Australia. Instead, the former UFC and Strikeforce titleholder will take on Cuban wrestling powerhouse Yoel Romero for another interim title in a division […]
Luke Rockhold’s quest to regain his UFC middleweight title was recently put on hold when champion Robert Whittaker was forced out of their scheduled UFC 221 main event on February 10 from Perth, Australia.
Instead, the former UFC and Strikeforce titleholder will take on Cuban wrestling powerhouse Yoel Romero for another interim title in a division that’s as confusing as any in the UFC right now – or perhaps ever.
After only just returning to the octagon last September to defeat former WSOF champ David Branch following over a year off when he was knocked out by Michael Bisping, Rockhold has admitted he knows it’s a mess he’s created, and indeed, it is a mess, with three champions since early November and the current one inactive with a serious staph infection.
So Rockhold’s looking to lend at least some continuity to his weight class, and the first step towards doing that is obviously getting past Romero, no easy task in its own right. But as he has been in the past, Rockhold is supremely confident to the point where some would call him cocky, so it was hardly a surprise to hear him predict to MMA Junkie Radio that he was going to stop Romero at UFC 221 and then face Whittaker:
“No one’s putting away Romero other than me and Whittaker, so that’s what I’m going to do: I’m going to put him away. I’m going to show what’s up, and then I’m going to take on Whittaker.”
Rockhold acknowledged Romero’s belief in himself, something he believes could cause overconfidence in his opponent. Even with Romero’s extensive resumé and accomplishments, Rockhold said, he would simply take him to “deeper, darker” places than any of his prior opponents:
“I know Yoel believes in himself. I know he is almost overconfident at times. I think he doesn’t really understand where the dangers are I pose to him. I know what he is and what he’s capable of, but I’m going to give this guy more than he can handle. I’m going to shut him down. I’m willing to go deeper than he’ll ever go.
“Some people act the part. Some people talk the part. But to be the part, to go there and to get into those moments, I’ve never been outdone. I’m willing to go deeper and darker than any of these motherf*ckers. Yoel can look it, and he can act it, but I’ll bring it out of him, and I’ll push this thing to a different world that he’s not ready for.”
Romero has shown moments of sheer dominance in finishing fights with explosive, out-of-nowhere wins few can duplicate inside an MMA cage, but he’s also shown a significant tendency to fade if the fight extends into the championship rounds.
Regardless, the Cuban ‘Soldier of God’ is one of the best wrestlers to ever compete in the UFC, and his track record shows it. With Rockhold being known for one of the most dominant top games on the ground, the grappling battle between these two should be a heated match-up, one where Rockhold believes Romero will find a surprise:
“I don’t know if Yoel thinks he can grapple with me,” Rockhold said. “He’ll be in for a surprise if he really wants to take it there. So whether he wants to strike, and he thinks he’s OK there, I’m going to make him pay there, and I think he falls back to his instincts, and he tries to wrestle. I’m going to make him pay for the wrestling. I’m going to hit scrambles. I’m going to be on top. I’m going to get in positions where he’s never felt.”
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This Saturday’s UFC 221 event in Perth, Australia, was built around built around one thing: the homecoming of UFC middleweight champion