UFC Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker was set to defend the gold against Kelvin Gastelum in the main event of UFC 234, but a severe abdominal injury and emergency surgery wound up removing the champ from the card.
Ariel Helwani of ESPN, citing Whittaker’s agent in Titus Day, is now reporting that Whittaker has been released from a Melbourne, Australia hospital and could fly back home to Sydney on Monday at the earliest.
Day also told Helwani that Whittaker could be back in action sometime this Summer, with that target month being June.
"I'd say he'll be able to fight next sometime between June and August depending on recovery," Day said. "Hopefully closer to June."
Whittaker won’t be able to start any training at all for at least six weeks and then only light training is going to be allowed until the fighter is fully cleared to return to action.
Former UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva and Israel Adesanya wound up headlining UFC 234 and it was Adesanya pulling out the unanimous decision victory in that encounter. Gastelum, who was compensated by the UFC for the canceled bout, is expected to be the one to challenge Whittaker when the champion returns to action.
