Robert Whittaker has suffered back-to-back losses for the first time at middleweight, this after dropping a split decision to Reinier de Ridder.
Robert Whittaker (26-9 MMA) and Reinier de Ridder (21-2 MMA) collided in the headliner of today’s UFC on ABC 9 event in Abu Dhabi.
Whittaker entered the contest with hopes of returning to the win column, this after suffering a submission loss to Khamzat Chimaev in his most previous effort this past October at UFC 308.
Meanwhile, Reinier de Ridder came into UFC Abu Dhabi sporting a four-fight winning streak, with his most recent victory coming by way of TKO over highly touted prospect Bo Nickal.
Despite a strong opening round and then later dropping and nearly finishing Reinier de Ridder on the ground in round three, Robert Whittaker ultimately fell just short in his quest to avoid back-to-back losses for the first time in his middleweight tenure. After twenty-five minutes of back-and-forth action, only one of the three judges had ‘The Reaper’ up on their respective scorecards, this resulting in a split decision win for ‘RDR’.
It was a tough pill to swallow for the former UFC middleweight champion in Robert Whittaker, as he seemed to be on the cusp of victory after earning that big knockdown in Round 3.
In the immediate aftermath of his defeat to De Ridder, Robert Whittaker took to the microphone and shared the following sentiments from inside the Octagon.
“Ahh, pretty butt-hurt to be honest. He did what he said he was going to do. I thought I had ticked all the boxes, but the pressure (he brought) was a lot. He has a lot of pressure and a lot of skill sets. I’ve mentioned it before; he’s got a particular way of fighting. I couldn’t really throw too many spanners in the works. He got it off more times than not and walked away a winner. Good on him.”
Today’s loss marks only the second time that Robert Whittaker has dropped back-to-back bouts during his UFC career. The first time came way back in 2014 when he was fighting at welterweight and dropped losses to Stephen Thompson and Court McGee respectively.
Who would you like to see Whittaker fight next?