If Kelvin Gastelum is going to get the next middleweight title shot, it sounds like it’ll be against the wishes of the current champion. Robert Whittaker is currently recovering from a hand injury suffered in his fight against Yoel Romero; he’s hoping to return sometime late this year or early next. And when he does, it seems former title holders are at the top of his list of potential opponents.

In a recent interview with the Daily Telegraph, Whittaker’s manager teased the idea the ‘Reaper’ could be back as soon as November, and a fight with Weidman is what the champ would ideally be looking for.

“So Madison Square Garden is a possibility,” manager Titus Day said, speaking of the UFC’s planned November 3rd PPV event. “Rob’s the middleweight champ and his last two fights have been wars. So if his hand heals up as quickly as we’re hoping, we would definitely push for him to compete at the greatest fight arena in the world. “And Chris Weidman, as the former champ, would be a perfect rival for that fight. “I’ve spoken to Rob this week and he definitely wants to be ready by the end of the year.”

Speaking to Lucas Grandsire, Whittaker gave his own updates on his injury recovery, and he sounded a little less aggressive on the possibility of returning in 2018.

“It’s hard to say right now,” Whittaker said of his potential recover time, “but I think looking towards the end of the year most likely, maybe early next year I think is realistic. Because like I just mentioned, then, it’s going to be 3-4 months just to get through the rehab. That’s not training gameplans, that’s not training striking patterns. That’s just trying to get back to where I was before the fight.”

Whether it’s at MSG in November or not, however, he sounded just as bullish on the idea of fighting Weidman – or even possibly Luke Rockhold – rather than taking a bout with Kelvin Gastelum.

“You know, I think Weidman’s looking pretty good,” Whittaker said, when asked about possible next opponents. “I think Rockhold’s looking pretty good. Rockhold was next in line, then he took a fight he didn’t have to with Romero after Romero missed weight by a much bigger margin than he did with me. So, he’s still up there. Weidman, he’s still up there as a top contender. Gastelum? I think Gastelum needs to beat either Rockhold or Weidman to truly put himself in prime position. But yeah, there’s some top dogs up there and all that.”

To his credit, Weidman is coming off a win over Gastelum. But, the Serra-Longo talent hasn’t competed since winning that fight back in July of 2017. The victory was his first since 2015 and broke a 3-knockout loss skid. A lingering hand issue has kept him sidelined for the last 12 months.

Similarly, Rockhold is dealing with ongoing complications from a leg injury, one that scrapped a possible move to light heavyweight. He most recently lost to Yoel Romero via KO back in February.

For his part, Kelvin Gastelum is riding a two win streak, having defeated Jacare Souza and Michael Bisping since his loss to Weidman. He was tabbed to replace Romero against Whittaker at UFC 225 after Romero missed weight, but wasn’t prepared to jump into a title fight on little more than a day’s notice.

Given the lingering injuries and recent records of his fellow top contenders, however, it still seems likely that Gastelum will be in strong consideration for the next shot at the belt – whether it’s the fight the champion wants or not.