Robert Whittaker News

Cole Shelton - February 10, 2019

On Saturday night, the UFC held its first pay-per-view of the year in UFC 234, which went down in Melbourne, Australia. The card was originally expected to be headlined by a middleweight title fight between champion Robert Whittaker and challenger Kelvin Gastelum. Unfortunately, Whittaker was forced out of this matchup on the day of the fight.

Tom Taylor - February 10, 2019

UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker was expected to defend his title against Kelvin Gastelum in the main event of UFC 234 in Melbourne, Australia on Saturday night. In a devastating, fight-day twist of fate, however, Whittaker was forced out of this matchup with a hernia, and rushed into surgery on the very evening he was supposed to compete. Given that the middleweight champion has not fought since his June 2018 defeat of Yoel Romero — a win that technically didn’t register as a title defense because Romero missed weight — some members of the MMA community have wondered if he might be stripped of his title.

Tom Taylor - February 10, 2019

UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker was expected to defend his title against Kelvin Gastelum in the main event of UFC 234 in Melbourne, Australia on Saturday night. In a devastating, fight-day twist, however, Whittaker was forced out of this battle with a hernia, and rushed into surgery on the very evening he was supposed to compete. If the champ had gotten his way, however, the fight might have gone ahead as planned — hernia and all.

Chris Taylor - February 9, 2019

Earlier this afternoon the mixed martial arts world was left in shock after news broke that tonight’s UFC 234 main event had been cancelled. This evening’s main event was expected to feature reigning UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker taking on surging division contender Kelvin Gastelum.

Mike Pendleton - February 9, 2019

Just hours before UFC 234 is set to begin, the main event has been canceled. According to Brett Okamoto of ESPN citing Dana White, UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker has had to withdraw from his scheduled title fight against Kelvin Gastelum due to injury.

Tom Taylor - February 8, 2019

This weekend, in the main event of UFC 234, UFC middleweight champ Robert Whittaker will attempt to defend his title opposite dangerous challenger Kelvin Gastelum. Heading into this fight, Kelvin Gastelum has boldly predicted that he’ll knock Robert Whittaker out in the first round.

Tom Taylor - February 7, 2019

UFC 234, the promotion’s first pay-per-view of the year, is just around the corner. This card, which goes down in Melbourne, Australia on Saturday night, will be headlined by a middleweight title fight between champion Robert Whittaker and challenger Kelvin Gastelum.

Cole Shelton - February 7, 2019

Robert Whittaker is set for the first defense of his middleweight title in the main event of UFC 234. Whittaker is riding a nine-fight winning streak, while also being undefeated since he moved up to middleweight. Standing in his way will be first-time title challenger Kelvin Gastelum, who is riding a two-fight winning streak. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached to several pro fighters to get their predictions. Most believe Whittaker will hear ‘And Still’ but they aren’t counting Gastelum out.

Tom Taylor - February 6, 2019

UFC 234, which goes down this weekend in Melbourne, Australia, will be headlined by a middleweight title fight between champ Robert Whittaker and challenger Kelvin Gastelum, and co-headlined by a middleweight contender bout between former champ Anderson Silva and rising star Israel Adesanya. The card sold out almost immediately. That, New Zealand’s Israel Adesanya, is because of him — not because of the Australian champion Robert Whittaker.

Drake Riggs - February 6, 2019

At UFC 234 this Saturday night in Melbourne, Australia the UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker looks to officially pick up his first title defense. UFC 213 took place in July 2017. The event was headlined by Whittaker and Yoel Romero who fought over the interim middleweight crown.

Tom Taylor - January 24, 2019

On February 24, in Melbourne, Australia, Kelvin Gastelum will get his long-awaited shot at the UFC middleweight title as he battles reigning champion Robert Whittaker in one of the most competitive-looking matchups we’ve seen in awhile. Heading into this fight, the MMA community seems to be divided on who will win. Kelvin Gastelum, however, is extremely confident that he’ll come out on top — in quick and decisive fashion.

Tom Taylor - January 24, 2019

Former UFC interim welterweight champion Colby Covington was recently mentioned as a potential opponent for Darren Till — that was before Till was booked to fight Covington’s training partner Jorge Masvidal. Covington, however, was not interested in this fight, maintaining that, as the recent interim champion, he has earned a title shot against undisputed champ Tyron Woodley.

Tom Taylor - November 30, 2018

Earlier this month, UFC President Dana White claimed that UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker was not a fan of the PR side of this sport. “We’re still talking about Rob becoming mainstream in his own country,” White said in an interview with the Daily Telegraph. “But from what I hear from my people here, Rob doesn’t love doing PR. But while you may not always remember what he says, you never forget the way he fights.

Drake Riggs - November 14, 2018

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Tom Taylor - November 14, 2018

Israel Adesanya looks more and more like a future UFC middleweight title challenger with every passing fight. In fact, after his UFC 230 execution of long-time contender Derek Brunson, his fighting for the title in the near future looks less like a likelihood and more like a downright certainty. The UFC middleweight title is currently held by Australia’s Robert Whittaker. Provided Whittaker defeats his next challenger Kelvin Gastelum, who he’ll meet at UFC 234 in late January, he could easily find himself locked in the cage with the Nigerian Kiwi Israel Adesanya soon thereafter.

Tom Taylor - November 13, 2018

Earlier this month, ESPN reported that a middleweight title fight between reigning champ Robert Whittaker and surging contender Kelvin Gastelum was headed to UFC 234 on February 10 in Melbourne, Australia (February 9 in North America). The promotion has now made this booking official.

Drake Riggs - November 2, 2018

We knew that the next middleweight title fight would see the champion Robert Whittaker defending against Kelvin Gastelum, we just didn’t know when. That is no longer the case as ESPN has confirmed with UFC president Dana White that the middleweight title will be on the line at UFC 234 on Whittaker’s home turf in Melbourne, Australia. The event is expected to take place on February 9.

Tom Taylor - September 4, 2018

UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker’s last two fights — both of which pitted him against Yoel Romero — have been absolute wars. In these fights, both he and Romero sustained incredible amounts of punishment, yet they both somehow managed to survive to the final bell each time. In the opinion of Kelvin Gastelum, who served as a coach opposite Robert Whittaker on the latest episode of The Ultimate Fighter, and will battle the champion sometime in the new year, Whittaker might not be the same after these wars with Romero. Gastelum opined on this topic at a July media scrum.