Whittaker likely to need surgery

UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker will likely require surgery on a broken thumb and will battle to fight again this year.

The Australian had a cast covering his right arm and thumb the day after his split-decision win over Cuban Yoel Romero in Chicago in their torrid rematch.

Whittaker will see a doctor about the surgery when he returns to Sydney tomorrow.

Whittaker said he suffered the injury in the first round, but wasn’t sure how it happened.

“I just remember a point where I couldn’t feel my hand from my fingertips to my forearm and I was like ‘well that’s not good’,” he said.