{"id":265542,"date":"2017-12-12T11:45:29","date_gmt":"2017-12-12T19:45:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=265542"},"modified":"2017-12-12T11:45:29","modified_gmt":"2017-12-12T19:45:29","slug":"robert-whittaker-luke-rockhold-react-georges-st-pierre-vacating-middleweight-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/luke-rockhold\/robert-whittaker-luke-rockhold-react-georges-st-pierre-vacating-middleweight-title\/","title":{"rendered":"Robert Whittaker and Luke Rockhold react to Georges St-Pierre vacating the middleweight title"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Shortly after winning the UFC middleweight title with an exciting, third-round submission of Michael Bisping,<span>\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/fighter\/georges-st-pierre\/\">Georges St-Pierre<\/a><span>\u00a0<\/span>vacated that title, citing ongoing health concerns that will likely keep him on the sidelines for the foreseeable future. Shortly after this development, the UFC elevated its interim middleweight champion Robert Whittaker to undisputed champion.<\/p>\n<p>Whittaker\u2019s first defense as undisputed middleweight champion is now set, as he\u2019s scheduled to take on former champion Luke Rockhold in the main event of UFC 221, which goes down this February 11 in Perth, Western Australia.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking at<a href=\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/robert-whittaker\/video-robert-whittaker-luke-rockhold-first-staredown-australia\/\"> the first press conference<\/a> for their anticipated UFC 221 bout, Robert Whittaker and Luke Rockhold both gave their thoughts on Georges St-Pierre&#8217;s choice to relinquish the title.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith the UFC, anything can happen, really,\u201d Whittaker said (h\/t Dan Stupp of <a href=\"http:\/\/mmajunkie.com\/2017\/12\/champ-robert-whittaker-ufc-221-opponent-luke-rockhold-georges-st-pierre-departure\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">MMAJunkie<\/a>). \u201cThere was no clear-cut matchup for me at any point in the last six months. So I\u2019m just happy to have closure.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m just happy to know Georges has stepped down, I\u2019ve taken the title, and I\u2019m going to defend it come February against Luke,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;So yeah, it\u2019s just good to know what we\u2019re doing. I\u2019m a very objective-driven bloke, so to have a goal in mind and to have something to do is very important to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rockhold, who was extremely critical of Michael Bisping and Georges St-Pierre&#8217;s title reigns, echoed Whittaker&#8217;s sentiments.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt sucks to see what [the UFC] has done with everything, but I\u2019m just glad we\u2019re back on track,\u201d he said. \u201cLike I said, I said Whittaker has been the true champion for some time now, and I\u2019m excited to get in there and mix it up.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Who do you think wins this Robert Whittaker vs. Luke Rockhold title fight?<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><i>This article first appeared on\u00a0<\/i><a href=\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>BJPenn.com<\/i><\/span><\/a><i>\u00a0on 12\/12\/2017.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Shortly after winning the UFC middleweight title with an exciting, third-round submission of Michael Bisping,\u00a0Georges St-Pierre\u00a0vacated that title, citing ongoing health concerns that will likely keep him on the sidelines for the foreseeable future. Shortly after this development, the UFC elevated its interim middleweight champion Robert Whittaker to undisputed champion. Whittaker\u2019s first defense as undisputed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54430,"featured_media":265543,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[10150,10582],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v19.7 (Yoast SEO v19.14) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Robert Whittaker and Luke Rockhold react to Georges St-Pierre vacating the middleweight title | BJPenn.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/luke-rockhold\/robert-whittaker-luke-rockhold-react-georges-st-pierre-vacating-middleweight-title\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Robert Whittaker and Luke Rockhold react to Georges St-Pierre vacating the middleweight title | BJPenn.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Shortly after winning the UFC middleweight title with an exciting, third-round submission of Michael Bisping,\u00a0Georges St-Pierre\u00a0vacated that title, citing ongoing health concerns that will likely keep him on the sidelines for the foreseeable future. Shortly after this development, the UFC elevated its interim middleweight champion Robert Whittaker to undisputed champion. Whittaker\u2019s first defense as undisputed [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/luke-rockhold\/robert-whittaker-luke-rockhold-react-georges-st-pierre-vacating-middleweight-title\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"| BJPenn.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bjpenn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-12-12T19:45:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Robert-Whittaker-Luke-Rockhold.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"730\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"380\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tom Taylor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@bjpenndotcom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@bjpenndotcom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tom Taylor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/luke-rockhold\/robert-whittaker-luke-rockhold-react-georges-st-pierre-vacating-middleweight-title\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/luke-rockhold\/robert-whittaker-luke-rockhold-react-georges-st-pierre-vacating-middleweight-title\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Tom Taylor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/person\/e1a3f1e5a045aeaf5b59aa1549a06a87\"},\"headline\":\"Robert Whittaker and Luke Rockhold react to Georges St-Pierre vacating the middleweight title\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-12-12T19:45:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-12-12T19:45:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/luke-rockhold\/robert-whittaker-luke-rockhold-react-georges-st-pierre-vacating-middleweight-title\/\"},\"wordCount\":319,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Luke Rockhold\",\"Robert Whittaker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2017\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/luke-rockhold\/robert-whittaker-luke-rockhold-react-georges-st-pierre-vacating-middleweight-title\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/luke-rockhold\/robert-whittaker-luke-rockhold-react-georges-st-pierre-vacating-middleweight-title\/\",\"name\":\"Robert Whittaker and Luke Rockhold react to Georges St-Pierre vacating the middleweight title | BJPenn.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-12-12T19:45:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-12-12T19:45:29+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/luke-rockhold\/robert-whittaker-luke-rockhold-react-georges-st-pierre-vacating-middleweight-title\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/luke-rockhold\/robert-whittaker-luke-rockhold-react-georges-st-pierre-vacating-middleweight-title\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/luke-rockhold\/robert-whittaker-luke-rockhold-react-georges-st-pierre-vacating-middleweight-title\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"MMA News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Luke Rockhold\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/luke-rockhold\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Robert Whittaker and Luke Rockhold react to Georges St-Pierre vacating the middleweight title\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/\",\"name\":\"| BJPenn.com\",\"description\":\"MMA &amp; UFC News, Results &amp; Fight Videos\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization\",\"name\":\"| BJPenn.com\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/bj_penn_logo_amp.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/bj_penn_logo_amp.png\",\"width\":600,\"height\":148,\"caption\":\"| BJPenn.com\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/bjpenn\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/bjpenn\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/bjpenndotcom\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/0fficialbjpenn\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bjpenn\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bjpenndotcom\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/person\/e1a3f1e5a045aeaf5b59aa1549a06a87\",\"name\":\"Tom Taylor\",\"description\":\"Tom Taylor is a globetrotting writer currently based in Ottawa, Canada. He is a staff writer for BJPenn.com, and also covers mixed martial arts for Fightland and Vice Sports. Follow him on Twitter @TomTayMMA.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/author\/tom-taylor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Robert Whittaker and Luke Rockhold react to Georges St-Pierre vacating the middleweight title | BJPenn.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/luke-rockhold\/robert-whittaker-luke-rockhold-react-georges-st-pierre-vacating-middleweight-title\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Robert Whittaker and Luke Rockhold react to Georges St-Pierre vacating the middleweight title | BJPenn.com","og_description":"Shortly after winning the UFC middleweight title with an exciting, third-round submission of Michael Bisping,\u00a0Georges St-Pierre\u00a0vacated that title, citing ongoing health concerns that will likely keep him on the sidelines for the foreseeable future. Shortly after this development, the UFC elevated its interim middleweight champion Robert Whittaker to undisputed champion. Whittaker\u2019s first defense as undisputed [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/luke-rockhold\/robert-whittaker-luke-rockhold-react-georges-st-pierre-vacating-middleweight-title\/","og_site_name":"| BJPenn.com","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bjpenn","article_published_time":"2017-12-12T19:45:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":730,"height":380,"url":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Robert-Whittaker-Luke-Rockhold.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Tom Taylor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@bjpenndotcom","twitter_site":"@bjpenndotcom","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tom Taylor","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/luke-rockhold\/robert-whittaker-luke-rockhold-react-georges-st-pierre-vacating-middleweight-title\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/luke-rockhold\/robert-whittaker-luke-rockhold-react-georges-st-pierre-vacating-middleweight-title\/"},"author":{"name":"Tom Taylor","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/person\/e1a3f1e5a045aeaf5b59aa1549a06a87"},"headline":"Robert Whittaker and Luke Rockhold react to Georges St-Pierre vacating the middleweight title","datePublished":"2017-12-12T19:45:29+00:00","dateModified":"2017-12-12T19:45:29+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/luke-rockhold\/robert-whittaker-luke-rockhold-react-georges-st-pierre-vacating-middleweight-title\/"},"wordCount":319,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Luke Rockhold","Robert Whittaker"],"inLanguage":"en-US","copyrightYear":"2017","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/luke-rockhold\/robert-whittaker-luke-rockhold-react-georges-st-pierre-vacating-middleweight-title\/","url":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/luke-rockhold\/robert-whittaker-luke-rockhold-react-georges-st-pierre-vacating-middleweight-title\/","name":"Robert Whittaker and Luke Rockhold react to Georges St-Pierre vacating the middleweight title | BJPenn.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-12-12T19:45:29+00:00","dateModified":"2017-12-12T19:45:29+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/luke-rockhold\/robert-whittaker-luke-rockhold-react-georges-st-pierre-vacating-middleweight-title\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/luke-rockhold\/robert-whittaker-luke-rockhold-react-georges-st-pierre-vacating-middleweight-title\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/luke-rockhold\/robert-whittaker-luke-rockhold-react-georges-st-pierre-vacating-middleweight-title\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"MMA News","item":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Luke Rockhold","item":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/luke-rockhold\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Robert Whittaker and Luke Rockhold react to Georges St-Pierre vacating the middleweight title"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#website","url":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/","name":"| BJPenn.com","description":"MMA &amp; UFC News, Results &amp; Fight Videos","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization","name":"| BJPenn.com","url":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/bj_penn_logo_amp.png","contentUrl":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/bj_penn_logo_amp.png","width":600,"height":148,"caption":"| BJPenn.com"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/instagram.com\/bjpenn","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/bjpenn","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/bjpenndotcom\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/0fficialbjpenn","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bjpenn","https:\/\/twitter.com\/bjpenndotcom"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/person\/e1a3f1e5a045aeaf5b59aa1549a06a87","name":"Tom Taylor","description":"Tom Taylor is a globetrotting writer currently based in Ottawa, Canada. He is a staff writer for BJPenn.com, and also covers mixed martial arts for Fightland and Vice Sports. Follow him on Twitter @TomTayMMA.","url":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/author\/tom-taylor\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265542"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54430"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265542\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}