UFC Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker will be taking part in the upcoming Commonwealth Games (also known as Gold Coast 2018) in early April.
For those who don’t know — which is undoubtably most Americans — the Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event similar to the Olympics, but limited to members of the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists of 53 states, nearly all of which were former British colonies. The United States is not one of them.
Whittaker will not only be wrestling in the Games, but he will be making history as the first active UFC Champion to compete.
Whittaker was originally slated to make his first title defense on February 10 at UFC 221 against Luke Rockhold. The champion, however, had to drop out of the fight after he was not properly treated for staph infection. Whittaker was replaced by Yoel Romero, who defeated Rockhold via third round knockout.
The Commonwealth Games are set to go down from April 4 to April 15.
This article was originally reported in The Daily Telegraph.
