Australia’s Robert Whittaker has suffered a heartbreaking split decision loss against Reinier de Ridder in Abu Dhabi – and after being “seconds” away from finishing the UFC middleweight division’s breakout star.
The controversial loss also saw social media explode afterwards with suggestions Whittaker – one of the UFC’s most beloved fighters — had been robbed, especially after two of three judges scored the final two rounds against him.
Eight years after becoming Australia’s first UFC champion, Whittaker appeared set to ignite what he has insisted all week would be one more run to world title glory against de Ridder, who has himself this past year emerged as a shock title contender.
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Midway through the third round of what was eventually an incredible back-and-forth fight, the 34-year-old Sydneysider dropped his rival with a brutal overhand right, before then doubling down with several more big punches and elbows on the mat.
For a moment, it seemed Bobby Knuckles was set to finish.
However, de Ridder wouldn’t only eventually recover, or regain his feet, but then take Whittaker down himself and effectively control the final two minutes of the round.
“He was seconds away from finishing,” former UFC champ Michael Bisping would say of the Australian soon after in commentary.
Yet coming off a huge upset win over UFC prospect Bo Nickal, it is now RDR who finds himself calling for a world title shot – winning the split decision in what would turn out to be two incredibly contentious championship rounds.
When the scorecards were eventually read afterwards, two of the judges went with de Ridder 48-47, a third went for Whittaker by the same margin.
Immediately, social media lit up with fight fans suggesting Whittaker had been robbed.
While all three judges gave RDR the last, official Mike Bell awarded Whittaker the fourth — while Ben Cartlidge and David Lethaby went against him, proving crucial.
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Speaking inside the Octagon afterwards, the Australian was asked by UFC commentator and former world champion Bisping about coming so close in a brutal back-and-forth.
“Ah, pretty butt-hurt to be honest,” the Aussie shrugged.
“He did what he said he was going to do.
“I thought I ticked all the boxes, but the pressure was a lot.
“He has a lot of pressure, 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.”
De Ridder, meanwhile, agreed the fight was “very close” and had not gone like he expected.
“Nah, I expected to take him down, choke him out,” he said afterwards of Whittaker.
“But he was amazing, man.
“So tough.
“So durable.
“Heavy f***ing hands.”
RDR then said he wants the winner of the upcoming title fight between UFC middleweight champ Dricus du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319.
“I don’t want to fight like this, man,” he said.
“This guy was too tough.
“I want to finish a guy in the first round, would be much better.
“So maybe Khamzat, Dricus next.
“Let’s go.
“Give me a chance to fight for the strap.”
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Whittaker started the fight strongly, producing his signature blitzing style in the first round, and cutting RDR over the left eye.
The Dutch fighter did, however, find success with his knees, which then became a real issue for Whittaker in the second, taking two to the body before then being taken down.
The Aussie was also cut on the nose in the second, which RDR dominated with about two minutes of control time.
The third then belonged to Whittaker while the championship rounds also remained close.
However, both the fourth and fifth went to RDR on two of the three judges’ scorecards, which is where the fight was effectively decided.
Speaking with Main Event’s Niko Pajarillo earlier this month, Whittaker revealed his plans to win four fights straight, regain the UFC middleweight crown and then disappear into retirement with what will by then be a family of six children.
Instead, the Aussie has suffered consecutive losses.
Back in October, Whittaker endured a brutal submission loss to division bogeyman Khamzat Chimaev – with the Chechnyan imposing a face crank so severe that it displaced the Australian’s front teeth.
Prior to the Chimaev loss, ‘The Reaper’ had earned consecutive wins over Brazilian Paulo Costa and Dagestani Ikram Aliskerov, the latter via first round KO.
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The loss finished off a tough week for Australian fight fans, with Tim Tszyu also losing against WBC super welterweight champ Sebastian Fundora in Las Vegas.
Earlier this week, Whittaker backed Tszyu to bounce back and told Fox Sports Australia from inside fight camp that he had a clear message for anyone calling the nation’s boxing pay-per-view star a quitter.
“From what I understand, he was getting hit four for every one of his,” Whittaker said of Tszyu.
“Anybody that says he quit, take the amount of punches he did. See how you feel.
“Head trauma is real.
“When your head starts to hurt and you can feel it, it’s very hard to do anything.
“A lot of the guys that are commenting online are just guys that don’t want to have a cold shower because it’s uncomfortable.”
Whittaker also backed Tszyu to return to the ring “better than before” and urged for the fighter to be given some space amid calls for his retirement.
“If everybody listens to the comments online, it’d be terrible,” Whittaker said.
“The sport has some of the best fans and worst fans in the world. It really does.
“I think everyone should just chill.
“Let him recover. Let him take some time off and then see what he wants to do afterwards.”
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