Reinier de Ridder bests Robert Whittaker in split decision

UFC middleweight Reinier de Ridder solidified himself as a legitimate title contender on Saturday, at the expense of all-time great and fan favorite Robert Whittaker.

De Ridder (21-2) earned his fourth UFC victory — and third win this year — by defeating Whittaker by split decision at UFC Fight Night in Abu Dhabi. Two of the three judges scored the 185-pound bout 48-47 for de Ridder, while a third had it 48-47 for Whittaker.

“I expected to take him down and choke him out,” de Ridder said. “He was amazing. So tough, so durable, heavy f—ing hands.”

Despite how close the official scores were, de Ridder ran away from Whittaker in nearly every statistical category. According to UFC Stats, de Ridder landed 169 total strikes, compared to 100 for Whittaker. He also was credited with just over nine minutes of control time, either along the fence or on the ground. He hurt Whittaker with knees in the second round, and bloodied his mouth and nose midway through.

Whittaker’s best moment came in the opening minute of the third round, when he dropped de Ridder with a counter right hand. He caught de Ridder coming in with a perfect right hand to the chin, and nearly finished him off with strikes on the ground immediately after. De Ridder managed to survive the onslaught, however, and go on to win the final two rounds.

De Ridder is known as a grappler, with 14 of his 21 professional wins coming via submission. He committed hard to takedown attempts at various points in the bout, but Whittaker did well defending 13-of-15 takedown attempts. Ultimately, it was de Ridder’s pressure and volume that Whittaker succumbed to, more than his grappling pedigree.

It’s been a breakout year for De Ridder, who is from the Netherlands but trains out of Kill Cliff FC in Florida. He submitted Kevin Holland in January, and then knocked out top prospect Bo Nickal in May to earn his first UFC main event. For the 34-year-old Whittaker, it marks the first time he’s lost back-to-back fights since 2013. He lost via submission to Khamzat Chimaev last October.

Immediately after the bout, De Ridder called for a title shot against the winner of next month’s championship bout between Dricus Du Plessis and Chimaev at UFC 319. De Ridder went into Saturday’s contest ranked No. 13 in the division. Whittaker was ranked No. 5.

“I don’t want to fight anyone like this man again,” De Ridder said of Whittaker. “He 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.”