Reinier de Ridder has officially entered the world of the UFC’s middleweight elite.
The former two-division ONE Championship titleholder secured the biggest win of his Octagon career on Saturday at UFC Abu Dhabi, narrowly taking a grueling split decision over former champ Robert Whittaker at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
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“RDR” survived a harrowing third-round knockdown to claw his way back into the fight and ultimately emerge with 48-47 scorecards in his favor from judges Ben Cartlidge and David Lethaby, while the lone dissenter — Mike Bell — scored it 48-47 Whittaker.
Uncrowned’s live scorecard also had it 48-47 Whittaker, although the contest was remarkably close and could’ve reasonably gone either way.
Afterward, an exhausted de Ridder (21-2) was effusive in his praise of Whittaker (26-9) and called for his chance to fight the winner of the Aug. 16 title fight between UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis and undefeated challenger Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319.
“I expected to take [Whittaker] down and choke him out, but he was amazing, man. So tough, so durable, heavy f***ing hands,” de Ridder said.
“I don’t want to fight like this, man. This guy was too tough. I want to finish a guy in the first round, it would be much better. So maybe [the winner of] Khamzat [vs.] Dricus next. Let’s go, give me a chance to fight for that strap.”
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Whittaker, 34, told Uncrowned ahead of UFC Abu Dhabi that he hoped to use Saturday’s bout as a springboard into one final pursuit of the middleweight title before he calls it a career.
The former champion, who’s now 3-4 over his past seven bouts, was visibly frustrated with the scoring.
“Pretty butt hurt, to be honest,” Whittaker admitted. “You know what? He did what he said he was going to do. I thought I ticked all the boxes, but the pressure was a lot. It was just a lot of pressure, he has a lot of skill sets — and I 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 he walked away the winner, good on him.”
De Ridder, 34, found himself in an early hole on Saturday as Whittaker dictated the pace of the opening round with a snapping jab and his trademark blitzes, however “RDR” quickly made up ground in the second with a steady diet of step-in knees to the body and top control following a mid-round takedown.
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Whittaker landed the most impactful shot of the night in Round 3, sending de Ridder tumbling to the canvas with a monster counter right hand that landed flush on the Dutchman’s chin. Whittaker poured on strikes in an effort to finish, but “RDR” gamely rallied and secured a takedown, riding out the rest of the round from top control.
De Ridder then pivoted to a control-heavy game plan of cage-clinching accompanied by more bodywork to grind out the win over the course of a back-and-forth final 10 minutes.
“RDR” is now 4-0 under the UFC umbrella after previously reigning as middleweight and light heavyweight champion in ONE Championship. He defeated Gerald Meerschaert, Kevin Holland and Bo Nickal — the latter of which came in a stunning upset — to kick-start his Octagon run.
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In the night’s co-main event, former UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan fended off upstart contender Marcus McGhee to win a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) and extend his UFC win streak to three straight.
Check out full UFC Abu Dhabi: Whittaker vs. de Ridder results and highlights below, as well as Uncrowned’s round-by-round play-by-play of the final two bouts of the day.
Main Card
Middleweight: Reinier de Ridder def. Robert Whittaker via split decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47)
Bantamweight: Petr Yan def. Marcus McGhee via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Middleweight: Shara Magomedov def. Marc-Andre Barriault via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
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Flyweight: Asu Almabayev def. Jose Ochoa via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Light heavyweight: Bogdan Guskov def. Nikita Krylov via TKO (strikes) at 4:18 of R1 | Watch finish
Prelims
Bantamweight: Bryce Mitchell def. Said Nurmagomedov via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Welterweight: Muslim Salikhov def. Carlos Leal via KO (punch) at :42 of R1 | Watch finish
Bantamweight: Davey Grant def. Da’Mon Blackshear via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Women’s strawweight: Tabatha Ricci def. Amanda Ribas via TKO (strikes) at 2:59 of R2 | Watch finish
Light heavyweight: Billy Elekana def. Ibo Aslan via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
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Featherweight: Steven Nguyen def. Mohammad Yahya via doctor’s stoppage at 5:00 of R2 | Watch finish
Heavyweight: Martin Buday def. Marcus Buchecha via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
