Robert Whittaker Reveals Reason Why He Rejected UFC 263 Title Shot

UFC President Dana White’s announcement of a middleweight title fight between champion Israel Adesanya and no. 3 ranked Marvin Vettori over the weekend caught many by surprise.

That’s because it appeared that no. 1 contender Robert Whittaker had sealed a second date with Adesanya after a dominant win over Kelvin Gastelum last April 17th in Las Vegas.

It turns out that Whitaker did get the title shot from the UFC. In fact, he got the call an hour after his win over Gastelum. However, the UFC offered him a date that was “impossible” for him to get there physically.

Speaking to ESPN, Whitaker said:

“More or less, I was offered the fight about an hour after my fight with Gastelum,” Whittaker said. “There was just no way, physically, I could do that. Not only do I have injuries from that last fight to deal with, but I also have to fly home to Australia, and then two weeks in [mandatory] isolation. I have to see how my body was feeling, and then I’d have to prepare; all by June. It was impossible.” 

Happy to Fight the Winner of UFC 263

The former UFC middleweight champion accuses the current champ Adesanya of plotting a sneaky move to get him to fight on short notice, with injury, and with all odds against him. Whitaker says that he really wants the title fight but Adesanya was adamant about fighting in June and it wasn’t possible for him to be 100% ready on that date. However, Whitaker added that he will be happy to face the winner of UFC 263 before the end of the year.

Job done…We’re coming home! #TeamWhittaker #ReaperNation #UFCVegas24 pic.twitter.com/jFlHJyfWe3

— Robert Whittaker (@robwhittakermma) April 18, 2021

Whitaker is currently back home in Australia, fulfilling the mandatory 14-day quarantine period. He says he is dealing with a sore hand and shin from the Gastelum fight and will further assess his injuries once he clears isolation. The Reaper drew a light 30-day medical suspension but will be cleared for hard contact on May 9th.

Adesanya vs Vettori 2

As it stands right now, UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya will defend his belt against Italy’s Marvin Vettori in a rematch of their UFC on Fox 29 bout. In that bout, Vettori gave Adesanya all that he could handle before losing a narrow split decision to the current middleweight king.

Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya returns to his division in a rematch with Marvin Vettori at UFC 263, Dana White told @bokamotoESPN. pic.twitter.com/kVldXyKryc

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) April 24, 2021

Since that defeat to Adesanya, Vettori has been on a roll with five straight victories. In his last two bouts, Vettori posted convincing victories over Top 10 middleweights  Jack Hermansson and Kevin Holland. He was supposed to fight Darren Till earlier this month but Till got hurt and was replaced by Holland.

Adesanya has opened as a sizeable betting favorite in the best UFC betting sites. According to online sportsbook SportsBetting.ag, the Last Stylebender is a -250 odds-on favorite to repeat over Vettori who came back at +210 when the lines first opened. If the odds are correct, Adesanya will keep his belt. Hopefully, Izzy doesn’t suffer any serious injury so that the UFC can finally book the All-Aussie rematch with Whitaker later this year.