The UFC made its return to the United Arab Emirates on Saturday with a card headlined by a middleweight fight between No. 5-ranked and former UFC Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker and rising contender Reinier de Ridder at Etihad Arena on Yas Island.
In the co-main event, former UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan earned a win over Marcus McGhee. The main card also saw wins from Sharabutdin Magomedov, Asu Almabayev, and Bogdan Guskov. Magomedov and Marc-André Barriault took home “Fight of the Night” bonuses, while Muslim Salikhov and Steven Nguyen were awarded “Performance of the Night” bonuses.
Main Event: Reinier de Ridder (48-47, 48-47) def. Robert Whittaker (48-47) via split decision
Reinier de Ridder announced himself as a legitimate UFC middleweight title contender on Saturday, earning the biggest win of his career by defeating former champion Robert Whittaker via split decision in the main event of UFC Fight Night in Abu Dhabi.
The close five-round fight saw de Ridder (21-2) edge out Whittaker on the scorecards, with two judges scoring it 48-47 in his favor and the third giving the same score to Whittaker. Despite the narrow decision, de Ridder outperformed the former champion in nearly every statistical category.
de Ridder landed 192 total strikes to Whittaker’s 70 and logged over 9 minutes of control time, utilizing clinch work and ground control. He hurt Whittaker with knees in the second round and bloodied his mouth and nose midway through the fight, steadily applying pressure throughout.
Whittaker’s best moment came early in the third round when he dropped de Ridder with a sharp counter right hand and nearly finished the fight with follow-up strikes on the ground. But de Ridder weathered the storm, regrouped, and came back to convincingly win the final two rounds.
Known primarily for his grappling, with 14 of his 21 professional wins coming via submission, de Ridder leaned on relentless pressure and volume more than wrestling in this matchup. He attempted 15 takedowns but was successful only twice, as Whittaker defended well. Still, the cumulative damage and forward pressure from de Ridder ultimately wore Whittaker down.
A former two-division champion in ONE Championship before joining the UFC in 2024, de Ridder is now 4-0 in the UFC with three finishes. Saturday’s win marked his third win of the year and propelled him into serious title contention.
After the fight, de Ridder, who entered the fight ranked No. 13 at middleweight, called for a title shot against the winner of next month’s UFC 319 middleweight title fight between champion Dricus Du Plessis and top contender Khamzat Chimaev. With Whittaker ranked No. 5 entering the contest, de Ridder’s win is expected to vault him into the top 10 and put him firmly in the championship conversation.
UFC Abu Dhabi: Whittaker vs. de Ridder Results
- Reinier de Ridder def. Robert Whittaker via split decision
- Petr Yan def. Marcus McGhee via unanimous decision
- Sharabutdin Magomedov def. Marc-Andre Barriault via unanimous decision
- Asu Almabayev def. Jose Ochoa via unanimous decision
- Bogdan Guskov def. Nikita Krylov via KO (strike) at 4:18 of Round 1
- Bryce Mitchell def. Said Nurmagomedov via unanimous decision
- Muslim Shalikhov def. Carlos Leal Miranda via KO (strike) at :42 of Round 1
- Davey Grant def. Da’Mon Blackshear via unanimous decision
- Tabatha Ricci def. Amanda Ribas via TKO (strikes) at 2:59 of Round 2
- Billy Elekana def. Ibo Aslan via unanimous decision
- Steven Nguyen def. Mohammad Yahya via TKO (eye injury) at 5:00 of Round 2
- Martin Buday def. Marcus Buchecha via unanimous decision
