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.Kelvin Gastelum (@kelvingastelum) has declared himself the world champion after Robert Whittaker was forced to withdraw from their UFC 234 bout with injury.FULL --> https://t.co/bXkrZ0h6vH pic.twitter.com/5YOCUjFMO4— TheMacLife (@Maclifeofficial) February 10, 2019Robert Whittaker probably saw that shit on the back of Kelvins Head and said 'Fuck this shit I'm out' #UFC234— Dovy🔌🇱🇹 (@DovySimuMMA) February 9, 2019Robert Whittaker is literally in surgery at the moment and he’s talking about how he’s the champ it’s disrespectful he didn’t earn the belt on his shoulders Whittaker went 10 rounds with one of the scariest guys in MMA in Romero Kelvin needs to sit down and shut up— Jay_27 (@Jayex_27) February 10, 2019UFC’s official statement on Robert Whittaker’s withdrawal: pic.twitter.com/yLTBsCcPU9— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) February 9, 2019Was Robert Whittaker helping a friend move the night before a title fight? This is so bizarre.— RJ Clifford (@RJcliffordMMA) February 9, 2019I can't believe Kelvin Gastelum is so dirty that just shaking Robert Whittaker's hand yesterday gave him a hernia. #UFC234— MacMally🍀 (@MacMallyMMA) February 9, 2019Conor McGregor said Robert Whittaker defended his belt too much anyway. #ufc234— Raging Al (@IAQUINTAREALTY) February 9, 2019Exclusive: Robert Whittaker comments on his injury which caused him to pull out of #UFC234. pic.twitter.com/qV0sXCPuQO— JustBleedMMA (@JustBleedMMA) February 9, 2019Robert Whittaker just ruined my whole fucking day— Joe Disalvo (@JoeDisalvo00) February 9, 2019There have now been FOUR main or co-main event changes to the UFC calendar so far in 2019 after Robert Whittaker's withdrawal from #UFC234.— Mike Bohn (@MikeBohnMMA) February 9, 2019I just woke up because I had a dream someone was repeatedly punching me in the ball sack but it was just Robert Whittaker pulling out of #UFC234— MacMally🍀 (@MacMallyMMA) February 9, 2019I'm still happy to watch #UFC234 tonight. I haven't skipped an event since #UFC152 and I'm not about to start now. Even "weak" cards on paper have delivered amazing fights in the past, which is all we can hope for at this point. Wish Robert Whittaker a speedy recovery.— Alex Scaffidi (@alexscaffidi_) February 9, 2019When you hear Robert Whittaker is out of #UFC234 pic.twitter.com/qk9teXWv1y— Dave Madden (@DaveMMAdden) February 9, 2019Per @danawhite, Robert Whittaker is going into surgery TODAY for the hernia issue that forced him off the card. Obviously, wishing him the best.— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) February 9, 2019What??? You act like Whittaker is a pull out artist lmao. He beat Yoel twice with a broken hand and on one leg, respectively.— 👁 (@Freeway_Jim) February 10, 2019#UFC234Whittaker not fighting!!?? Damn!! Didn't find out until after I bought it for $60.00 on PPV!!! 😭😭😭— Robert Smyers (@RobertSmyers2) February 10, 2019@arielhelwani was wondering this earlier... when Whittaker dropped could they have switched this card to ESPN+ for better viewership? Or are there legalities with PPV’s that don’t allow for last second changes?— Craig Berry (@cberryy) February 10, 2019@ufc you guys still charge full price after Whittaker pulls out and continue to let that 🤡 @marcgoddard_uk ruin fights smh 🤦‍♂️ #UFC234— Phillip Aholt (@SdaleKid) February 10, 2019As a fan of Whittaker, KG has every right to be saying what he’s saying. He’s just gone through a fight camp and traveled all the way to Aus for this— Aussie Gooner (@Roberto_Holdini) February 10, 2019When I found out Whittaker was out, you know those PPV buys, which were already gonna be in the basement, were gonna tank even more!One of the weakest PPV cards I’ve seen in a while. Hats off to whoever pays $70 to see a card with potentially just one round of interest to it— Charlie Flood (@cflood03) February 10, 2019Robert Whittaker is out of his planned title defense against Kelvin Gastelum. My god— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) February 9, 2019Robbed of the first UFC title opportunity of his career, Kelvin Gastelum is taking the high road. He was scheduled to challenge middleweight champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 234, but news broke hours before the event that a hernia had forced Whittaker out of the bout.— 'El Chapo' Nissi Icasiano (@Nissi_Icasiano) February 10, 2019Maybe we can get Whittaker vs Gastelum at 238. Rob put on quite a show last time he fought in Chicago.— Toby Morrell (@TobyMorrell99) February 10, 2019Thank god I didn’t fly from Perth to Melbourne to watch this. Already got a refund for the Perth card when Whittaker pulled out. A 2nd time in front of home fans is no bueno. Dude is ripping the hearts out of Aussie MMA fans.— GavinM (@gav_mc33) February 10, 2019#UFC So Whittaker makes the weigh in yesterday, pulls out this morning with "a hernia". Yep, Melbourne's pretty far out to change #UFC234 to Los Angeles.— KickDownTheCorridor (@KickCorridor) February 10, 2019