Interim UFC champ Robert Whittaker reacts to Georges St-Pierre's sidelining colitis

Robert Whittaker is keeping things classy in the wake of the news that UFC middleweight champion Georges St-Pierre is sidelined with a case of colitis.

UFC President Dana White revealed on Friday that St-Pierre (26-2 MMA, 20-2 UFC) is going to be out of action “for a minute” while he deals with the health issue. He didn’t offer many details on the champ’s condition other than to say he’s uncertain about St-Pierre’s possible return.

The revelation directly impacts interim 185-pound titleholder Whittaker (19-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC), who was expecting to have a title-unification bout with St-Pierre next year. Despite that, Whittaker took to social media to offer a response to his potential next opponent (via Instagram):

@georgesstpierre @danawhite @ufc #unify #anywhere

A post shared by Robert Whittaker (@robwhittakermma) on Dec 2, 2017 at 1:01am PST

Although there was never an official timeline for the fight (or a guarantee St-Pierre would even defend the belt, despite being contractually obligated), UFC 221 on Feb. 11 in the Australian city of Perth appeared to be the obvious fit for Whittaker’s next fight.

It seemed unlikely that St-Pierre, who claimed the belt with a third-round submission of Michael Bisping at UFC 217 this past month, would travel to Australia for a title defense even if he were perfectly healthy. Given the current circumstances, perhaps “Bobby Knuckles” will defend his interim crown at UFC 221.

His post, however, indicates that he’s not thinking about much outside unifying the gold.

For more on UFC 221, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

The Blue Corner is MMAjunkie‘s official blog and is edited by Mike Bohn.