Former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker has confirmed that he is pulling out of the UFC 284 card due to the cancellation of his fight against Paulo Costa.
“It’s a shame to say this, but it’s true,” the Australian said in a video posted on social media. “The fight with Costa fell apart, although the UFC did everything in their power to make it happen. My understanding is that they gave him a new contract to take the fight, but he still didn’t agree. So yes, the fight in Perth will not take place. ”
“I was ready to train on Christmas Day, train on New Year’s Eve – we’re already deep into preparations. Everyone knows how hard I train and I have quite long training camps. I expected to fight and go on vacation with my family, buy new toys for the kids, spend some money, pay for housing, but all this will have to be postponed, so I am very upset.”
On the eve of the cancellation of the match of top middleweights, the well-known sports columnist Brett Okamoto announced, after which the Brazilian confirmed this information.
Recall that the UFC 284 tournament will be held on February 12 in Perth, Australia, and its main event will be a superfight between Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski, which will be at stake in the UFC lightweight championship belt belonging to the Russian, as well as the status of the best fighter of the organization, regardless of weight category.
Source: https://fighttime.ru/news/item/30313-robert-uittaker-sdelal-zayavlenie-ob-otmene-boya-s-paulo-kostoj.html?rand=19907
