Former UFC Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker was badly damaged in 2024 by Khamzat Chimaev, but something good came from the difficult result.
Whittaker returns to the UFC Abu DHABI card on Saturday's main event, while he reversed his ambitions of a second stint on the 185-pound throne six years after he was not stored by Israel Adesanya.
'The Reaper' seemed to be counting for exactly that halfway through last year. After Whittaker Paulo Costa had defeated UFC 298, he ran through the highly recommended Ikram Aliskerov to close the debut of the promotion in Saudi Arabia.
But the undefeated 'Borz' turned out to be an obstacle for too long at UFC 308. In the opening round, Chimaev Whittaker submitted with a crushing face crank that the favorite Australian needed that dental surgery needed to repair displaced front teeth.
Although he may not have thought, while he was in the dentist's chair, Whittaker would soon experience the unexpected positive that came from a devastating setback in the middle.
Robert Whittaker has a 'new power' for UFC Abu Dhabi thanks to Khamzat Chimaev
During an interview for ESPN after the UFC Abu Dhabi-Ceremonial weightings, Whittaker viewed his first performance in the Octagon Since he fell on a horrible fate that finally shot Chimaev his first title this year.
Whittaker is too complacent and relaxed when Chimaev set up his fighting movement and says that he returned to training with an improved mindset-IS that he will look at at an entry specialist in Reinier de Ridder.
“I went into training and I went into practice with Like, a new force not to give up positions,” said Whittaker.
“It was clear that I should not have been in that position with Chimaev, the way I lost. I should not have been there to start with. I should not have let it go. I should have fought every phase of that chance.
“I just started training again with that kind of mentality. (Bad) habits crawl in and I wanted to correct that.”
Khamzat Chimaev is not the loss that Robert Whittaker wants to come back the most
Whittaker is convinced that he could and should have performed much better against Chimaev. Nevertheless, the result against the chips is not the setback that 'The Reaper' wants to avenge the most.
During an appearance on the Ariel Helwani show, Whittaker pointed to his Dricus du Plessis loss during the International Vechtweek in 2023 as the defeat he wants to 'correct'.
“I would like to fight against him again (du plessis). That would be the icing on the cake,” said Whittaker.
“To be honest, I think I'm better than he is. I think I'm better than everyone, even if I lose, right? It is especially that I left myself in our first link in that fight, and I want to correct that. I didn't have the right head room to beat him.
“I want to correct that more than all my other losses,” Whittaker added. “That is the fight that I didn't like to feel that way.”
Two of the three men who have defeated Whittaker in the middleweight are the next set to meet the title on the line. Chimaev will challenge du Plessis in the main event of UFC 319 in Chicago on August 16.
If he can do the job against De Ridder at UFC Abu Dhabi, 'The Reaper' will undoubtedly pay good attention to how that match unfolds because he looks to do what he can do to challenge one of the man in a rematch along the line.