Whittaker gets new opponent for next fight

Robert Whittaker's road to regaining the middleweight title has taken another twist, with his next opponent pulling out at the eleventh hour.

The 30-year-old was expected to face Paulo Costa next month, but the Brazilian has been ruled out as he battles a severe case of the flu.

It was a bout that would have resulted in the winner being granted a shot at current champion Israel Adesanya – who has previously defeated them both, but suffered the first loss of his career two weeks ago as he moved up a weight class.

He will return to middleweight in the near future, and it was the Kiwi-Nigerian fighter who famously stunned Whittaker to take the belt from him in 2019.

It was Whittaker's first loss in nine middleweight fights in the UFC, but he bounced back with unanimous decision wins over Darren Till and Jared Cannonier to re-insert himself into the title picture.

Costa himself came up short against Adesanya in their title fight at UFC 253 last September, which was the first loss of the Brazilian's professional career.

Instead, Whittaker will test himself against American Gastelum, who he was first due to face in a title defence in Melbourne in early 2019. The championship fight was called off on the morning of the event, with Whittaker undergoing emergency surgery for a collapsed bowel and internal hernia.

ESPN's MMA reporter Brett Okamoto, who broke the news of the new fight, called Gastelum v Whittaker 'the one that got away'.

https://twitter.com/bokamotoESPN/status/1371948474267103232

As a result, it was Adesanya who headlined the card, defeating legendary Brazilian Anderson Silva and then Gastelum a few months later, to thrust himself into the title picture.

Now the would-be foes will finally get the chance to square off, with Gastelum saying just a couple of weeks ago that he was "staying ready" in case one of either Whittaker or Costa pulled out of the contest.

"If one of those guys falls out for whatever reason, I'll be ready," Gastelum told reporters in February after his win over Ian Heinisch.

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