When Robert Whittaker pulled out of his planned title fight against Luke Rockhold back on January 13th – ahead of their UFC 222 bout – the news sounded grim. Whittaker apparently had contracted a staph infection in his stomach, one that had reportedly started to eat away at his organs.
To add insult to injury, as he was recovering from one illness, he contracted another, coming down with chicken pox; a seemingly devastating turn of events for the newly crowned champ. In response, the UFC quickly looked to set up an interim title, pitting Rockhold against fellow top contender Yoel Romero.