Robert Whittaker has pulled out of UFC 221

[Priziesthorse]

Just under one month out from UFC 221, middleweight champion Robert Whittaker is now out of his main event fight vs. former champ Luke Rockhold.

ESPN’s Brett Okamoto reported late Friday night that Whittaker withdrew due to an undisclosed injury, so he won’t be able to fight in front of his home fans in Australia. Replacing Whittaker is the man whom he most recently defeated, Cuban standout Yoel Romero.

“I’m beyond disappointed that I’m unable to defend the title in my home country of Australia,” Whittaker said to ESPN. “I hope the fans enjoy what should be a great night of fights at UFC 221 and I look forward to a recovery as soon as possible that will have me back in the Octagon…


https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2018/1/...aker-out-yoel-romero-vs-luke-rockhold-ufc-221


View: https://twitter.com/bokamotoESPN/status/952076321504428032?ref_src=twcamp%5Eshare%7Ctwsrc%5Em5%7Ctwgr%5Eemail%7Ctwcon%5E7046%7Ctwterm%5E1




Rockhold vs Gay Jesus instead.

 

[Dat Pre-HollyHolm Ronda $]

View: https://twitter.com/bokamotoESPN/status/952076321504428032?ref_src=twcamp%5Eshare%7Ctwsrc%5Em5%7Ctwgr%5Eemail%7Ctwcon%5E7046%7Ctwterm%5E1




Rockhold vs Gay Jesus instead.

Damn that sucks. Well Gay Jesus does heal all.

 

[BJTT_Kiwi]

Marquee man pulls out of UFC’s WA debut

Bugger. Was looking forward to seeing Rockhold get starched.

 

[Onetrickpony]

Marquee man pulls out of UFC’s WA debut

Bugger. Was looking forward to seeing Rockhold get starched.

That definitely could still happen, not as likely but Yoel has the power to drop anyone given the right opening.

 

[Joemacka]

Omfg

 

[Robbie Hart]

Sorry to hear this but Rockhold was gonna tool him and I did not want that result

 

[Mishima Zaibatsu]

I remember in another thread about how bad this card is, someone said what if Whittaker couldnt fight...

Romero vs Rockhold could be good, but man... this card... Im going to say right now it barely does over 6 figures in buys.

 

[CHiLLEN]

Dammit. Pretty gutted actually. As an Australian, this was a strong card for us.

 

[Zeph]

20k buys

 

[Sex Chicken]

That sucks. Who do I cheer for between Rockhold and Romero? I don’t like either being champ.
This division is a mess. It’s almost like Dana White’s idea to have GSP move up a weight class to beat up the champion, knowing he was most likely going to vacate, was a short sighted cash grab that showed no respect for the belt, and fucked up the division.

 

[Sex Chicken]

Stop fucking around with the belts, respect the division rankings and stop fucking over contenders for quick money fights.

 

[1031]

Stop fucking around with the belts, respect the division rankings and stop fucking over contenders for quick money fights.

What are you really trying to say?

 

[Robbie Hart]

That sucks. Who do I cheer for between Rockhold and Romero? I don’t like either being champ.
This division is a mess. It’s almost like Dana White’s idea to have GSP move up a weight class to beat up the champion, knowing he was most likely going to vacate, was a short sighted cash grab that showed no respect for the belt, and fucked up the division.

The whole thing nowadays is a cash grab..........wme img needs to get cash back and their biggest money maker is saying “fuck you, come to the table or I’m not fighting in that sport again”

 

[Pitbull9]

Jesus already for interim title wtf

 

[member 603]

Jesus already for interim title wtf

It's actually the interim interim title...... By July, the top 5 ranked fighters in each division will all be belt holders. There will be a Grand Prix at the end of the year where all division interim champs will fight for the SUPER Interim title..... With a chance to fight the actual champion sometime in 2019 (that fight not guaranteed).

 

[Robbie Hart]

It's actually the interim interim title...... By July, the top 5 ranked fighters in each division will all be belt holders. There will be a Grand Prix at the end of the year where all division interim champs will fight for the SUPER Interim title..... With a chance to fight the actual champion sometime in 2019 (that fight not guaranteed).

In was thinking more like 2020.....let’s sit down and work it out slowly.....

 

[Mix6APlix]

Just get rid of belts already. This is getting ridiculous.

 

[regular john]

lol!! I love it...

what a train wreck the ufc has become. I basically only watch the undercard these days and MAYBE try to catch up to the rest the next morning. the undercard is always fun though.

 

[Mix6APlix]

...and somewhere the Fertittas are laughing their asses off while rolling around naked on a pile of money.

 

[CLINTK9]

bummer, but they made it up with another great fight we havent got to see yet right away with one of the other monsters at MW. who cares for belt or not. its a great fight! if this was Pride24 and this happened, we'd all be stoked they got Romero to jump right in. at least they didntjust scrap the ME and make Hunt/Blaydes top billing.

 

[Gibberish]

 

[member 3289]

I was looking forward to the stylistic match-up. I had Whittaker winning by being quicker and using superior footwork to avoid takedowns, but Rockhold's top game is probably the best in the UFC.

Rockhold-Romero should be interesting, but this Aussie card has really gone from one great fight and a bunch of shitty ones to one decent fight and a bunch of shitty ones.

 

[jason73]

bummer, but they made it up with another great fight we havent got to see yet right away with one of the other monsters at MW. who cares for belt or not. its a great fight! if this was Pride24 and this happened, we'd all be stoked they got Romero to jump right in. at least they didntjust scrap the ME and make Hunt/Blaydes top billing.

Except pride 24 had both nog bros both overeem bros,hendo,ninja rua,kevin randleman and rodrigo gracie on the card.

 

[CLINTK9]

Except pride 24 had both nog bros both overeem bros,hendo,ninja rua,kevin randleman and rodrigo gracie on the card.

just the fact they would replace the fight with another good one right away, like pride used to do was the example. everyones so concerened about the title/intrem or whatever, but we still get another MW top 5 fight we havent seen. just being positivie abouit it.

 

[CLINTK9]

Except pride 24 had both nog bros both overeem bros,hendo,ninja rua,kevin randleman and rodrigo gracie on the card.

and man, people wonder why we bitch about cards these days. lookin back, even cards we thought werent that good were still loaded with names we knew in the nhb/mma world.