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Robert Whittaker was set to take on the fastest-rising contender of the Middleweight division - Jared "The Killa Gorilla" Cannonier. The latter has been considered as the most potentially dangerous man in the division and would have been just a step away from a title shot had he defeated the former Champion - but as things turned out, it wasn't to be.
Whittaker pulled out of the bout citing personal reasons. Dana White, when asked about it, got emotional and praised the Australian for being "selfless" in pulling out of the contest. Whittaker then apologized to the fans and Cannonier and said that he hopes to cross paths with him.
The UFC intends to keep Jared Cannonier on the card and the frontrunner as of a few days ago was Darren "The Gorilla" Till, who is coming off a successful Middleweight debut at Madison Square Garden this past November against Kelvin Gastelum.
Till even teased the bout on social media but when asked about Cannonier's opponent at UFC 248, Dana White revealed that Till isn't in contention to replace Whittaker at UFC 248 because he's dealing with a leg injury right now. It's an ankle injury that's keeping him out.
The UFC 248 main event will feature Israel Adesanya defend the Middleweight Championship against Yoel Romero. Many believed that the Cannonier-Whittaker fight would possibly determine the next Middleweight title challenger - though that could still be tricky as Paulo Costa is expected to return at the halfway point this year.
Now that Till is potentially out, we're interested in seeing who UFC books Cannonier with. The rest of the top 5 are unavailable and we wonder whether he'll think it's worth the risk of facing a lower opponent just to stay on the card.
It's a low-incentive fight for him now that Whittaker and Till aren't in the picture. Hopefully, he's able to get a tough opponent that will take him one step closer to the title.
