Robert Whittaker out of UFC 248

Former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker has pulled out of his scheduled UFC 248 fight with Jared Cannonier.

The two had to meet inside the Octagon on March 7 in Las Vegas, but now the fight is off. The fight was supposed to mark New Zealand's finest return since surrendering his middleweight title to Israel Adesanya at UFC 243 this past October.

‘The Reaper’ took to Instagram where he released the following statement to his fans regarding his withdrawal from UFC 248.

 

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I'm sorry to all my friends, supporters and family for not being able to fight in March. A lot has happened over the 12 last months and I need to take some time now to be with my family, slow things down and to refocus. Sorry to everyone again but I'll be back. The best is yet to come.

Публикация, споделена от Robert Whittaker (@robwhittakermma) на Яну 16, 2020 в 5:45 PST

As for Jared Cannonier, the streaking middleweight contender has not yet received a replacement opponent to fill in for Robert Whittaker.

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There has been some talk of Darren Till potentially replacing ‘The Reaper’ against Cannonier, but nothing has been made official by the promotion as of this time.