UFC 248: Robert Whittaker pulls out of March bout against Jared Cannonier

According to an initial report from ESPN's Ariel Helwani, former UFC Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker will not be returning to the Octagon at UFC 248, as the Australian fighter has reportedly pulled out of his scheduled fight against Jared Cannonier.

Robert Whittaker's last UFC fight

In what was his return to the Octagon after an absence of over a year, Robert Whittaker faced Israel Adesanya in the main event of UFC 243 on October 6 last year in Melbourne, Australia - one of the UFC's biggest pay-per-views of all-time.

Whittaker eventually lost his return bout to The Last Stylebender, who knocked out The Reaper in the second-round, to become the new UFC Middleweight Champion by doing so.

Whittaker pulls out of UFC 248, Cannonier to continue

For his return fight in 2020, Whittaker was set for a highly-exciting clash against Jared Cannonier at the upcoming UFC 248 PPV in March. However, according to recent reports, the 29-year-old has now pulled out of the card, leaving Cannonier without an opponent.

Robert Whittaker is out his March 7 UFC 248 fight against Jared Cannonier due to undisclosed personal reasons, sources say. UFC efforting to keep Cannonier on the card but no opponent locked in yet, I’m told.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) January 15, 2020

At this time, the exact reason for Whittaker pulling out is not known but has been listed as undisclosed personal reasons - though there's ample time to find a suitable replacement for Cannonier to continue his fight camp ahead of the March 7 card.

When is UFC 248?

UFC 248 is set to take place on March 7 and will feature a Women's Strawweight Title fight between Weili Zhang and Joanna Jedrzejczyk. As far as Cannonier is concerned, he'll still fight as planned given the UFC's ability to find a suitable replacement for The Killa Gorilla.