Robert Whittaker broke his hand in the first round in his bout against Yoel Romero, and the UFC middleweight champion hasn't felt the same since.
He spoke with Ariel Helwani of ESPN and revealed that he recently had surgery on his hand and unfortunately will likely be sidelined until February 2019 due to the long process of getting back to full strength.
“It’s still only several weeks from surgery so I’m still working on it,” Whittaker said. “I can’t even start a rehab process yet, it’s more of just letting it heal and letting it set properly first before I can even implement that.
“They put a plate and some screws (in it). People don’t know this but also I did ligament damage in my left hand but obviously the attention was drawn to the broken one...
“I definitely won’t be ready before next year. My hand rehab — both hands — I have to get to 100 percent with my hands before I can start rehab. The healing process has to be done before I can even start a rehab program and then I need strengthen my hand up to 100 percent. Then, when I’m a 100 percent, I’d like to get a little bit of training done.
“Realistically, I’m looking at like February of next year.”
“I think all damage that you take inside the octagon is real and should be taking seriously but I’m not worried that it’ll have any effect on my performance,” Whittaker said. “I haven’t even reached my peak yet, the peak of my potential. This hard fight, if anything, is going to mold me and shape me as to how I approach fights from now on. I think everyone has to have their mettle tested in a tough fight and that was one of them for me.”