Paulo Costa ill, out of Robert Whittaker fight on April 17

Paulo Costa has withdrawn from his future UFC headliner with Robert Whittaker.

Costa (14-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) was meant to facial area Whittaker (22-5 MMA, 13-3 UFC) at UFC Battle Evening on April 17, but a “severe” case of the flu has rendered him unable to effectively get ready for the 5-spherical bout with the former middleweight champion.

It is not likely Whittaker will acquire a alternative opponent, and there are ongoing dialogue for the matchup to be rescheduled for a UFC Battle Night time function on May well 1 or May possibly 8. On the other hand, no new date has been finalized at this time.

MMA Junkie verified the adjustments from many people today close to the circumstance, who spoke on the ailment of anonymity simply because the UFC has yet to make an official announcement, soon after initial experiences from AgFight.com and MMAFighting.com.

Whittaker, 30, lost the UFC middleweight title to Israel Adesanya in Oct 2019, but turned his momentum all around in 2020. Battling two times in the calendar year, Whittaker defeated Darren Until and Jared Cannonier – equally by unanimous conclusion.

Adhering to his October victory around Cannonier, all indications pointed toward Whittaker currently being upcoming in line for UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. However, Whittaker’s write-up-combat feedback steered Dana White in a various path and Adesanya was paired up with UFC mild heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz rather.

Costa, 29, has not competed considering the fact that an unsuccessful title problem in October. At UFC 253, Costa was concluded by means of strikes by Adesanya in Spherical 2. The complete, and subsequent mocking celebration by Adesanya, seemed to rub Costa the wrong way. Soon after the battle, Costa vowed to storm again and defeat Adesanya.