Robert Whittaker will get his wish of competing in Paris when he takes on Marvin Vettori in a pivotal middleweight bout.
Whittaker (23-6 MMA, 14-4 UFC) vs. Vettori (18-5-1 MMA, 8-3-1 UFC) is set for UFC Fight Night on Sept. 3 at Accor Arena, promotion officials announced Tuesday.
Your first bout for #UFCParis is official!
🇦🇺 Robert Whittaker vs Marvin Vettori 🇮🇹
🎟️ https://t.co/IFdZXeYW4U pic.twitter.com/Ej3MBa2RHb
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) May 31, 2022
Originally scheduled to square off June 11 at UFC 275 in Singapore, the bout was scrapped when Whittaker withdrew due to injury. Whittaker hoped the fight would remain intact, but Vettori was seeking a replacement. However, after failing to find another fight, Vettori decided to wait for the former champion, and the fight has now been rescheduled.
Whittaker is coming off a title loss to middleweight champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 271 in February, falling short to “The Last Stylebender” for a second time. Prior to that, the former champion scored three consectutive wins over Darren Till, current title challenger Jared Cannonier and Kelvin Gastelum.
Meanwhile, Vettori also was recently defeated for a second time by Adesanya, losing a unanimous decision in their title fight at UFC 263 last June. However, the Italian fighter was able to rebound with a five-round decision win over Paulo Costa this past October at UFC Fight Night 196.
