Paulo Costa out of Whittaker match up due to illness

The April 17th headliner has officially come crumbling down and Robert Whittaker is left without an opponent. Costa has reportedly withdrawn from the contest due to a severe flu that has kept him from training.

There has been no word as of yet if there will be a replacement or if they will be rescheduling the contest all together, but with Robert Whittaker sitting atop of all contenders, im sure there are many that will bite on a short notice opportunity.

Costa(13-1) has not fought since September 2020 where Adesanya scored himself a lopsided victory over the Brazilian. After a blazing hot start (5-0) in the UFC, including wins over Yoel Romero and Uriah Hall before he fell short on a championship opportunity.

Whittaker (22-5) has beaten the who's who and held the gold himself before losing it to current champion, Israel Adesanya. Whittaker went on to win in spectacular fashion against Jared Cannonier and Darren Till, strutting in for a rematch between former and current champion. This matchup was likely to be his final roadblock in that conquest.

The match-up was pivitol to figure out who is next for the current middleweight champion. With this fallout expect to see the Till vs. Vettori fight as a front runner for the next challenger.