Robert Whittaker's return to the Octagon After a horrible injury last October ended in disappointment when he lost a split decision to Te Reinier.
Former UFC Middleweight Champion Whittaker literally broke his teeth by Khamzat Chimaev last time at UFC 308 in October. But within less than a year he came back to face the rapidly rising former One FC champion De Ridder.
After a knockout victory over Bo Nickal, the Dutchman might take the most difficult test of his career against 'The Reaper'; His first UFC champion. And he just got through, overcome a huge knock -down.
Robert Whittaker vs Reinier de Ridder UFC Abu Dhabi result
Both Robert Whittaker and Reinier de Ridder knew that a victory on the other would allow them instead of a world title shot. 'RDR' won his first three Octagon -outings after leaving one championship and was clearly in the elevator, while the Australian just wanted a run in gold.
Whittaker immediately ran over and landed a good shot on the knight early, but was quickly caught by the legs and the couple went into a conflict. When they break apart, the Blitz of the Aussie saw him cut his rival above the eye and first blood pulled.
Despite a monstrous size difference that sometimes looked almost Farcic, Whittaker was well able to come in and to hurt the Dutchman. He did indeed look so much faster as De Ridder looked bigger when they exchanged the feet early.
A big knee of the knight was his best shot when he continued to insist on a Takedown that would not be in the opening round. The second opened with the Dutchman who landed a solid shot after Whittaker dedicated before the regular service resumed.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Eventually it realized halfway through the Tour of Round Two de Ridder that he should strike and did this relatively well, landed a few big knees and eventually got Whittaker down. The Aussie seemed to bleed out of the mouth when they arrived at the end of the round two with the former One FC champion on top.
When the third began, De Ridder began to control the feet, but he was then caught with a wild countertop that dropped him. Whittaker immediately pushed on the finish with soil and pound, but De Ridder went up again.
With Whittaker who wore the blood from the round two, he started landing huge shots that wobbled the knight. But the Dutchman mercilessly got double leg and had the chance to take control again, making it a tough round to score, although he had fallen brutally and injured.
On the way to the championship rounds, both tiredness of men really started to show, because the pace considerably delayed from the first three. De Ridder struggled to deal with Whittaker's injection, but avoided the big shots and even landed one of his own.
By the fifth it became a battle for less exhausted by the heat of Abu Dhabi and the pace of the early rounds. It seemed that it might be the knight, until the last 90 seconds when Whittaker seemed to have found a second wind.
The fight went the distance and went to the score cards, where the jury members awarded the split decision to Reinier's knight. He won 48-47 on two cards, while Whittaker took the other with the same score.
Robert Whittaker remains motivated by prospect of Drus du Plessis Rematch
On the way to Saturday's main event, Robert Whittaker was clear about his motivations to continue after a legendary 16-year career. He knew that a victory over the knight might be his ticket for a rematch with Dricus du Plessis, whom he felt that he could beat and win the belt again.
“I would like to fight him again,” Whittaker told Ariel Helwani of Du Plessis. “That would be the icing on the cake. To be honest, I think I'm better than him. 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 headroom to beat him. I want to correct that more than all my other losses. That is the fight that I didn't like to feel that way.”