Robert Whittaker vs Jared Cannonier reportedly set for UFC 254
According to an initial report from ESPN, a Middleweight fight between former division champ Robert Whittaker and Jared Cannonier has reportedly been set for the UFC 254 pay-per-view.
The fight seems like an obvious title eliminator, with the winner getting a shot at the UFC Middleweight Championship against whoever walks out with the title at UFC 253 in a highly-awaited collision between champion Israel Adesanya and challenger Paulo Costa.
ESPN's Brett Okamoto took to Twitter and confirmed the news:
Robert Whittaker was recently victorious in his last Octagon outing which was at UFC Fight Island 3 last week, when 'The Reaper' secured a vital comeback win over Darren Till in the main event of the show.
UFC 254 will somewhat mark a quick Octagon return for the former Middleweight Champion, as he prepares to make his carve his own path to championship gold once again in the UFC.
Robert Whittaker vs Jared Cannonier at UFC 254
As of now, an official announcement regarding the fight hasn't been made by the UFC. However, the UFC 254 line-up is already turning out to be a stacked PPV with the inclusion of Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Justin Gaethje in a UFC Lightweight Championship bout.
Robert Whittaker vs Jared Cannonier could possibly serve as the co-main event of the night, but nothing seems to be confirmed at this stage. A Heavyweight clash between Alexander Volkov and Walt Harris also seems to be in the making for this pay-per-view, as well.
As far as this Middleweight bout is concerned, this fight was originally scheduled to take place at UFC 248, but Robert Whittaker eventually had to pull-out of the bout due to undisclosed reasons.
Jared Cannonier, on the other hand, also announced that he had suffered a torn pectoral muscle but will be marking his return to Octagon action at UFC 254. The pay-per-view is scheduled for October 24th and as of now, a venue is yet to be decided for the event.