Whittaker breaks silence on injury, offers timeline for return
Robert Whittaker: “And then right at the end of the infection I got the chicken pox. That’s why I’ve got the scars all over my face, because it was an absolute mess.”
Last month UFC welterweight champion Robert Whittaker was pulled from his title defense vs. Luke Rockhold at UFC 221 on February 11, 2018 in Perth, Western Australia. Rockhold is now fighting Yoel Romero for the interim belt.
The cause of the injury was an unknown injury, but given Whittaker’s history of knee issues, that was the consensus guess. However, late that month UFC president Dana White revealed it was an infection.
He had staph infection in his stomach, said White. From what I understand, it wasn’t treated properly and started to eat away at parts of his organs. He’s in serious condition, so it’s going to be a minute before he’s back, I think.
Four days ago Whittaker posted on his social network that he was back in the gym.
Now at the UFC 221 open workouts in Sydney, Whittaker addresses the withdrawal. Via Submission Radio.
“Everyone knows I like to fight injured,” he said. “Half the fights I’ve taken I’ve always been injured. Just before I got ill I pulled my hamstring. And 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 in the end just took it out of me, I was really struggling to recover. And then right at the end of the infection I got the chicken pox. That’s why I’ve got the scars all over my face, because it was an absolute mess. If anyone’s had it, it’s just horrible.”
“When they offered this outcome to me I was delighted. The number one and number two contenders get to bash each other, and I was just like, ‘yes, good, please.’ You know, as a fan of this sport I would’ve paid to watch this fight. This is the fight other 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.”
“I’m just focused on recovering. I’m gonna let Yoel and Rockhold punch a bit, but things are good and I’m looking for a big return mid-year. So let’s see what happens.”
