Whittaker confirms he had knee injury heading into UFC 213 title fight

Robert Whittaker's leg injury was as bad as it looked.

During his interim middleweight title fight with Yoel Romero at UFC 213, "The Reaper" appeared to suffer major damage to his knee after absorbing a leg kick early in the contest. Whittaker fought through the setback to earn a unanimous decision win.

Romero's strike aggravated an existing injury he'd suffered in training, Whittaker told Nick Walshaw of Australia's Daily Telegraph on Friday.

"I suffered a strain during training and thought it would be sweet," Whittaker said. "And it might've been had Romero not kicked it like he did. So as for when I'm back? My body will be the clock.

"I took a lot of little niggling injuries into that Romero fight. That's the problem with taking fights too close together. They were injuries that not only impede your training, but also put you in bloody pain."

According to medical suspensions released by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Whittaker could be out of action for up to six months pending clearance from a physician (the earliest he can return is Aug. 8). Whittaker's own doctor diagnosed the fighter with a Grade 2 medial tear following the Romero bout, so it could be a while before he's ready for a unification clash with undisputed champion Michael Bisping.

"Doctors always think the end of the world, right? If it was up to them I'd be in a wheelchair," Whittaker said. "But I'm extremely lucky to have a great sports doc in Andrew McDonald. He works with South Sydney (as head of medical) so he's seen a lot of sports injuries and knows his athletes well.

"The injury itself, it's not really my job to understand. All I can say is that it's a serious Grade 2 medial ... and hurt like hell when it happened."