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UFC 234: Whittaker vs Gastelum did not get the start to the fight day that anyone expected.
After a long 12-week camp where he trained and prepared for his first title defense at UFC 234 for the Middleweight Championship, Robert Whittaker was able to make weight at the weigh-ins for the event.
Everything seemed set to happen, with no upsets on the horizon for Robert Whittaker as he was ready for his challenger for the Middleweight Title, Kelvin Gastelum.
As soon as things seemed like nothing could go wrong, that's exactly what happened on fight day.
The news came out that Robert Whittaker had to be taken to the hospital.
But what had happened which had led to such a course of events?
Overnight, hours after he had been successful in making weight for the Championship fight, it seemed things had gone very wrong.
Robert Whittaker had developed stomach cramps and had vomited during the night. The situation had gotten so bad that he had to go to the hospital.
Upon arriving at the hospital, he was immediately diagnosed with a hernia and had to undergo emergency surgery.
Given the seriousness of the condition, there is no timeline for Whittaker's return. Kelvin Gastelum's main event fight had to be canceled and as a result, the title main event was canceled.
Instead, the co-headliner between Anderson Silva and Israel Adesanya was promoted to the main event.
There were offers from other fighters to step in to face Gastelum, but given the last moment at which things had taken place, nothing could be arranged by the UFC.
Meanwhile, Kelvin Gastelum has said that as this is the sort of thing that actually means that Robert Whittaker has forfeited. As a result, he has declared himself as the new Middleweight Champion, something Dana White might have something to say about.
Twitter exploded as news came out. Here are some of the best reactions on Twitter.
