How did Robert Whittaker lose his belt? Exploring 'The Reaper's' injury woes and title loss at UFC 243

Robert Whittaker is a former UFC middleweight champion, but for all his skill and effectiveness, he has failed to reclaim his title and almost appears relegated to the status of a gatekeeper in a division where two top-five fighters have beaten him.

So, how is it that it came to be? Unfortunately for Whittaker, there's one factor that may have contributed to him losing his title and another that undoubtedly did.

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How did Robert Whittaker lose his belt?

Robert Whittaker has a well-known history with the injury bug. But after being promoted to the undisputed UFC middleweight champion, 'The Reaper' faced what was, perhaps, his most devastating injury. Just hours before a UFC 234 title fight with Kelvin Gastelum, the Australian star withdrew from the bout.

He was afflicted with a hernia so severe that it was life-threatening, with his bowel collapsing and his intestines poking through a hole. Accoridng to Dana White, the injury could have been fatal had it occurred in a fight, but, fortunately, nothing of the sort came to pass.

Instead, Whittaker underwent surgery, but it was the latest setback in a list of health-related struggles. A year prior, he had contracted a serious illness after being improperly treated for a staph infection. Months afterward, he broke his hand in his rematch with Yoel Romero.

However, whether that impacted his performance against Israel Adesanya is mere speculation. The truth of the matter is that 'The Last Stylebender,' as was the case when 'The Reaper' fought Stephen Thompson during his welterweight days, is a nightmarish stylistic matchup for him.

Whittaker excels at stutter-stepping into combinations from mid-range, where he does his best work. Unfortunately, when he's forced to fight from long range against tall out-fighters, he struggles and resorts to using his natural speed to recklessly lunge into range with looping combinations.

However, due to the additional forward steps he takes and the long distance he must cross, he affords his foes the chance to make reads and anticipate his movement. Furthermore, he leads with his chin when doing so. Against Adesanya, that proved disastrous, as he kept lunging into the former's counterpunches.

Worse still, every time Whittaker was countered, he seemed to convince himself that he merely needed to close the distance faster, causing him to double-down on his approach. And the more he missed, the wilder he threw, believing that if most of his strikes miss, the few that do land must count and be knockout blows.

Check out Robert Whittaker's knockout loss to Israel Adesanya:

And so, as has happened before, Robert Whittaker charged face-first into a counter, only to wake up seconds later staring at the ceiling.