Whittaker out of UFC 221 due to injury, Rockhold to fight Romero for interim title

The anticipated middleweight title bout between Robert Whittaker and Luke Rockhold at UFC 221 won't take place, as Whittaker was forced to withdraw from the event due to injury, the UFC announced Saturday.

In its place, former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold will take on No. 1 contender Yoel Romero for the UFC interim middleweight title.

"Due to several significant injuries suffered recently, current middleweight champion, Robert Whittaker, has been ruled medically unable to compete in the championship bout at UFC 221 in Perth, Australia," the statement read in part.

Whittaker later released a statement of his own on Instagram, in which he apologized for not being able to compete.

"I would like to apologize to all my supporters and fans of MMA for not being able to put on the show you deserve," Whittaker wrote. "I've been ruled medically unable to compete and won't be able to defend on home soil. This card meant so much to me and I'm devastated for not being able to fight. All I can do is focus on getting healthy to come back better than ever. All the best to Yoel and Luke for their fight and I'll be waiting ..."

Whittaker was crowned the undisputed UFC middleweight champion after Georges St-Pierre vacated the title in December, and the fight with Rockhold was then scheduled for the Feb. 10 even in Perth.

Rockhold (16-3) will now take on Romero (12-2) whose last fight came at UFC 213 where he was defeated by Whittaker via unanimous decision. The 40-year-old was scheduled to take on David Branch in Orlando at February's UFC on FOX 28 until Saturday's development. It remains to be seen whether Branch will remain on the bill.