UFC president Dana White disclosed the exact nature to Robert Whittaker’s removal from next month’s UFC 221 main event vs. Luke Rockhold.

The reigning UFC middleweight champion is suffering from a mistreated staph infection in his stomach, White told TSN following UFC 220 this weekend.

“He had staph infection in his stomach,” White said. “From what I understand it wasn’t treated properly and started to eat away at parts of his organs. He’s in serious condition, so it’s going to be a minute before he’s back.

“Hopefully it turns around quick, but that stuff is life threatening if not treated the right way.”

Whittaker became the undisputed champion when Georges St-Pierre vacated the title. He won the interim belt last year vs. Yoel Romero, who replaces him at the February event to face Rockhold for that same championship.