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

Din Thomas thinks Robert Whittaker is one loss from facing unranked opponents after falling short at UFC Abu Dhabi.

Robert Whittaker took some positives from his most recent loss. | Getty/UFC Robert Whittaker is taking his loss to Reinier de Ridder as a learning experience. The former middleweight champion dropped a split decision to de Ridder in the UFC Abu Dhabi headliner at Etihad Arena in Yas Island,

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.

Moving up to middleweight, ‘The Reaper’ has never before experienced consecutive losses, a streak broken only recently. Robert Whittaker came up short against Reinier de Ridder in the main event at UFC Abu Dhabi over the weekend.

Reinier de Ridder secured a split decision victory over Robert Whittaker at UFC on ABC 9 in Abu Dhabi. Despite two judges favoring de Ridder 48-47, on

Robert Whittaker’s teeth were brutally shattered in his last UFC fight. And with ‘The Reaper’ set to return to the same venue as his crushing defeat to Khamzat Chimaev last time