De Ridder Shocks Whittaker in Split Decision: Road to UFC Title?

Reinier de Ridder Dominates Robert Whittaker in an Epic Battle

In a night full of action in the octagon, Reinier de Ridder solidified his position as a serious contender for the UFC middleweight title, after an intense fight against the acclaimed Robert Whittaker. De Ridder (21-2) secured his fourth UFC victory, and the third this year, by defeating Whittaker via split decision at the UFC Fight Night event held in Abu Dhabi. Two of the three judges scored it 48-47 in favor of De Ridder, while the third judge gave the same score to Whittaker.

“I was hoping to take him to the ground and submit him,” De Ridder stated. “It was incredible. Very tough, very resilient, with very heavy hands.”

Reinier de Ridder

Despite the closeness of the scores, De Ridder outstruck Whittaker in almost every statistic. According to UFC Stats, De Ridder landed 169 total strikes, compared to Whittaker’s 100. He also accumulated more than nine minutes of control time, either against the cage or on the ground. He damaged Whittaker with knee strikes in the second round, causing bleeding in his mouth and nose midway through the fight.

Whittaker’s best moment came in the first minute of the third round, when he knocked De Ridder down with a right hand. He connected a perfect right hand on De Ridder’s chin, almost finishing him with ground strikes immediately after. However, De Ridder managed to survive the attack and win the last two rounds.

De Ridder is known for his grappling ability, with 14 of his 21 professional victories achieved by submission. He attempted takedowns at various points in the fight, but Whittaker defended 13 of 15 attempts. In the end, it was De Ridder’s pressure and volume that overcame Whittaker, more than his grappling skills. This has been a successful year for De Ridder, originally from the Netherlands but training at Kill Cliff FC in Florida. He submitted Kevin Holland in January and knocked out the promising Bo Nickal in May, securing his first UFC main event. For Whittaker, 34, this marks the first time he has lost consecutive fights since 2013. Immediately after the fight, De Ridder requested a title opportunity against the winner of next month’s championship fight between Dricus Du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319. De Ridder entered Saturday’s fight ranked 13th in the division, while Whittaker was ranked fifth.

“I don’t want to fight someone like this man again,” De Ridder said about Whittaker. “It was too tough. I want to finish a guy in the first round, so maybe it would be better if I fought Khamzat or Dricus. Give me my title shot.”

Reinier de Ridder