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.

Reinier de Ridder remained undefeated in the UFC with a hard-fought split decision victory over former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker in a grueling five-round affair. While he did get absolutely bombed with a punch that knocked him to the ground in the third round,

Robert Whittaker thinks he "ticked all the boxes" to get his hand raised vs. Reinier de Ridder at UFC Abu Dhabi.

UFC middleweight Reinier de Ridder solidified himself as a legitimate title contender in defeating Robert Whittaker by split decision at UFC Fight Night in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

The Robert Whittaker vs. Reinier de Ridder scorecard at UFC Abu Dhabi shows how the judges scored their close fight Saturday evening. de Ridder remains perfect in his UFC career when he won a split decision over former UFC champion Whittaker in the main event (47-48,

MMA Junkie's Mike Bohn plays matchmaker and looks ahead to what makes sense for Reinier De Ridder in this edition of "Sean Shelby's Shoes."

A middleweight clash with title implications headlines UFC Fight Night in Abu Dhabi. Former UFC champion Robert Whittaker and former two-division ONE Championship king Reinier de Ridder fight weeks before a 185-pound title fight at UFC 319.

Check out how much money did Reinier De Ridder earn outclassing former champ Robert Whittaker at UFC Abu Dhabi.

Reinier de Ridder could only laugh at Paulo Costa criticizing his performance after the Brazilian lost to Robert Whittaker when they fought a few years ago.