Whittaker Out Of UFC 234 Due To Hernia

By FIGHTSPORTS Feb 9, 2019 Last updated Feb 15, 2019

Robert Whittaker’s homecoming fight against Kelvin Gastellum is no longer happening as the UFC middleweight champion suffered a hernia at the last possible second.

According to Brett Okamoto of ESPN, Whittaker is out due to a hernia in his abdomen. Whitaker was complaining about pain in his abdomen around midnight the night before UFC 234 and taken to a hospital where he was diagnosed with a hernia. Okamoto also said Whittaker is going into surgery for the hernia issue and that the injury was not related to his weight cut.

Whittaker was supposed to defend his middleweight title against Gastelum in the main event of UFC 234 at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia.

BREAKING NEWS: Robert Whittaker is OUT of his middleweight title defense against Kevin Gastelum. pic.twitter.com/ZfPUEn9YQM

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) February 9, 2019

The original co-main event of the show, Israel Adesanya vs. Anderson Silva, will now serve as the new main event of UFC 234. The new co-main event of the show is Lando Vannata vs. Marcos Rosa in a lightweight bout.