Robert Whittaker vs. Marvin Vettori Planned for UFC 275

Two top-ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweights with recent decision losses to the champ will square off this May.

On Thursday, Ariel Helwani brought word that Robert Whittaker (23-6) will be entering the Octagon in June against Marvin Vettori (18-5-1) in the middleweight division at UFC 275. Whittaker had spoken to The MMA Hour on Wednesday, hinting that he would be facing his opponent in Singapore on June 11. Vettori’s manager has since confirmed the pairing in an interview with Helen Yee on Thursday night.

Former champ Whittaker had a three-fight win streak snapped when he faced Israel Adesanya in a rematch to get his belt back in February. Although he was not knocked out like the first meeting, he did drop a close five-round decision to the champion. Before suffering his second defeat to Adesanya, “Bobby Knuckles” had rattled off a trio of decision wins over Darren Till, Jared Cannonier and Kelvin Gastelum to earn another crack at the crown.

Vettori has since rebounded from his 25-minute defeat to Adesanya by defeating Paulo Costa on the scorecards in October 2021. In their meeting, the two were initially slated to face off at 185 pounds, but weight issues for Costa prompted its move to 205 pounds on short notice. The aforementioned loss to Adesanya put an end to a five-fight victorious stretch with four decisions and a submission of Karl Roberson in the middle. Both men sport identical finish rates of 61% as pros, with just one stoppage in their last six wins apiece.

UFC 275 does not currently have a destination on the books, but it is rumored to be taking place in the Singapore Indoor Arena in Kallang, Singapore, on June 11. The headliner comes in the form of a light heavyweight championship battle between Glover Teixeira and Jiri Prochazka, and the co-main event draws a women’s flyweight title tilt as Valentina Shevchenko looks to defend her throne against Taila Santos. The only other matchup booked for the card is a strawweight fight pairing Silvana Gomez Juarez against Na Liang.