Robert Whittaker will not be competing in Perth.
This past Saturday, Whittaker picked up the 17th win of his UFC career, stopping short-notice replacement Ikram Aliskerov in the first round at UFC Saudi Arabia. Afterward, Whittaker revealed he wasn’t just dealing with an opponent change on short notice, he also had surgery to deal with an infection in his jaw shortly before heading out to Riyadh.
Speaking this week on The MMA Hour, Whittaker revealed what happened with his mouth before the event and how it affected his preparation.
“It wasn’t anything drastic,” Whittaker said. “A couple days before I flew out, I had to get a couple root canals. I had a pretty bad infection in my jaw. It wasn’t anything crazy. I wouldn’t have brought it up. It just hurt. I had a course of antibiotics and once they kicked in, the pain went away. I was pretty good.”
“Honestly, it was up there with some of the worst pain I’ve ever had,” Whittaker continued. “It was crazy bad. … I kid you not, pain levels, it would have been a 9.5 out of 10. It was crazy bad. Maybe I just don’t take tooth pain very well. But the infection was in my jaw. It was literally a pain.
“It hurt, but I don’t know. It hurt but it went away and I was all good. Probably by midweek when I was in Dubai, the pain was gone. I finished my course of antibiotics. … It all [worked out].”
Despite the issues, Whittaker scored his first finish since 2017 and is now right back in the thick of the middleweight title hunt. The former champ was so amped up after the win, he even suggested he might be able to make a quick turnaround and fight at UFC 305 when the promotion returns to Perth, Australia.
However, now Whittaker says that’s not happening.
“I totally forgot I have to get the rest of my teeth fixed,” Whittaker said. “The adrenaline was going, so I totally forgot I had to get that done. But also, I’m no one’s fill-in. I’m no one’s replacement. I’m a main event fighter. When I fight one of those guys and fight for the gold, or fight anyone, I’m a main event guy. I’m going to put them in my sights and I’m going to prepare appropriately and I’ll go hunting.”
As for who Whittaker may fight next, that’s still up in the air. “Bobby Knuckles” was supposed to face Khamzat Chimaev at UFC Saudi Arabia until Chimaev was forced from the event due to illness, so it’s possible the promotion may choose to run that back. There’s also a fight with former middleweight champion Sean Strickland that would make sense as a No. 1 contender matchup, but Strickland appears reluctant to accept.
For Whittaker, any option is fine, because he’s not out here to pick fights. He’s just working his way back to the belt.
“Like I said before, I don’t look at potential fights,” Whittaker said. “I just train until they give me a name, and then they enter my process and that’s my focus. That’s who I’m gunning for, hunting season is open.”
