Former UFC middleweight Robert Whittaker has said that he fought Kelvin Gastelum earlier this month with a torn ligaments in his hands.
Robert Whittaker is coming off of a dominant performance against Kelvin Gastelum at the UFC Fight Night event earlier this month. In this fight, he put on a clinic and defeated Whittaker via a unanimous decision.
He tore his ligaments after arriving in Las Vegas and fought with it and despite the injury, he defeated Gastelum via unanimous decision.
.@robwhittakermma reveals he tore the ligaments in his hand before the Kelvin Gastelum fight:
“Honestly, once the adrenalin kicked in, it didn’t hold me back too much. Plus, I was there. I was there, I wanted to fight. And yeah, this is what I do, this how I provide.” pic.twitter.com/Nb4VI8sGBV
— Submission Radio (@SubmissionRadio) April 28, 2021
“I tore the ligaments in my hand that week, as well,” Whittaker said to Submission Radio. “Before the fight, it’s all on record, the UFC knows that as well. I need to go home and do rehab on that. Let me tell yeah, fighting isn’t the best way to rehab a hand.”
“Yeah, I don’t know. When I first did it, there were all the initial concerns and everything about going into a fight with one hand,” Robert Whittaker said. “I’ve fought too many times with one hand and I know how hard it is. It is a nightmare. Honestly, the UFC was great in getting me to see doctors that I needed to see and manage it the way I did. Honestly, once the adrenalin kicked in, it didn’t hold me back too much. Plus, I was there. I was there, I wanted to fight. And yeah, this is what I do, this how I provide, I had the made the trip.”
Why didn’t Robert Whittaker accept the fight against Israel Adesanya?
In an interview with ESPN, Brett Okamoto, Robert Whittaker revealed why he didn’t accept the fight against Israel Adesanya.
“More or less, I was offered the fight about an hour after my fight with Gastelum. There was just no way, physically, I could do that. Not only do I have injuries from that last fight to deal with, I 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,” Whittaker said.
“I can see what Izzy is trying to do. He’s trying to get me to accept the fight injured, on short notice, with all odds against me, but there was just no way I could get there physically. I do want that fight, and my next fight will be for the title. It has to be. He was just really adamant about fighting on that date and I can’t do it. I’m happy to fight the winner after,” Whittaker said.
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