Reinier de Ridder solidified his position as a serious contender for the title in the UFC middleweight division, after defeating Robert Whittaker in an exciting fight. De Ridder, with a record of 21-2, achieved his fourth UFC victory and the third this year, defeating Whittaker by split decision at the UFC Fight Night event in Abu Dhabi. Two of the judges scored the fight 48-47 in favor of De Ridder, while the third gave the victory to Whittaker with the same score.
Despite the close scores, De Ridder outperformed Whittaker in almost every statistic. According to UFC data, De Ridder landed 169 total strikes, compared to Whittaker’s 100. In addition, he accumulated more than nine minutes of control time, either against the cage or on the ground. In the second round, he hurt Whittaker with knee strikes, bleeding his mouth and nose.I was expecting to take him to the ground and submit him. It was incredible. Very tough, very resilient, with very heavy hands.
Reinier de Ridder
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 punch to De Ridder’s chin and almost finished him with ground strikes. However, De Ridder managed to survive and win the final two rounds.
De Ridder is known for his grappling ability, with 14 of his 21 professional victories 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 of strikes that overcame Whittaker, more than his grappling skills. This has been a standout year for De Ridder, who is from the Netherlands but trains at Kill Cliff FC in Florida. In January, he submitted Kevin Holland, and in May he knocked out the promising Bo Nickal to win his first UFC main event. For Whittaker, 34, it’s the first time he’s lost two 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 number 13 in the division. Whittaker was ranked number 5.I don’t want to fight anyone like this man again. 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
