It was a grueling and competitive fight, but de Ridder felt comfortable in winning three out of the five rounds they competed in. He was confident all three judges would agree with him, however, only two judges did,

Reinier de Ridder has officially entered the world of the middleweight elite after a grueling battle against Robert Whittaker at UFC Abu Dhabi.

The latest UFC Fight Night event was held in Abu Dhabi and was headlined by a middleweight clash between Robert Whittaker and Reinier De Ridder.

Reinier de Ridder picked up the biggest win of his career on Saturday when he took a hard-fought split decision over former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker in the main event of UFC Fight Night from Abu Dhabi.

Paulo Costa was quick to react to De Ridder’s UFC Abu Dhabi win over Whittaker. The charismatic Brazilian is not one to mince his words, and that was on display again as Costa claimed he would knock out De Ridder three times per round.