Dana White Says Robert Whittaker’s Injury Could Have Been Fatal If He Fought At UFC 234

Dana White said on the UFC 234 preliminary card ESPN broadcast (h/t MMAJunkie) that Robert Whittaker’s abdominal issue that caused him to withdraw from his UFC 234 bout against Kelvin Gastelum could have been fatal if he had gone ahead with the fight.

“This was one of those freak accidents where the doctor said he’d literally never seen this type of injury in a young person – this usually happens to old people,” White said. “… They think he’s had this problem and it’s been going in and out, and it’s one of those situations had it popped out during the fight, it could have been fatal for him. We don’t know exactly what happened with the doctor. Hopefully they popped it back in and sewed it up, and if that’s the case, it’ll be four weeks. But this was a freak, freak injury.”

Whittaker underwent emergency surgery today to fix the issue after experiencing symptoms overnight.

White said the future of the middleweight division will depend on when Whittaker returns, adding that it’s too soon to make a decision on introducing a 185 pound interim title while Whittaker is out.