‘Pretty butthurt’: Rob Whittaker gutted after narrow UFC loss

Robert Whittaker was gutted as his hopes of being UFC champ again copped a major blow as he suffered a tough, narrow loss.

Robert Whittaker’s bid to be UFC champion again has copped a major blow after he was narrowly beaten by Reiner de Ridder on Sunday morning (AEST).

The Australian and Dutchman went the full 25 minutes in an entertaining fight at UFC Fight Night in Abu Dhabi, but de Ridder was given the split decision victory (48-47 x 2, 47-48).

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It’s a third victory of the year for ‘RDR’ following wins over Kevin Holland and Bo Nickal.

It looked like Whittaker might get the victory when he secured a take-down with a brutal right-hand punch and unleashed some heavy blows on de Ridder early in the fourth round.

But de Ridder avoided a stoppage and recovered to land some heavy blows of his own, leaving Whittaker’s nose bloodied, as the Aussie tired in the later rounds.

Watch the highlights from Whittaker vs RDR in the video above

Australia's Robert Whittaker cops a punch from Reinier de Ridder of the Netherlands in their middleweight fight. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Reinier de Ridder had his moments against the Aussie. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

It was a very close fight, and Whittaker was understandably gutted when the scorecards narrowly went against him as de Ridder claimed his fourth consecutive win.

“Pretty butt hurt to be honest,” Whittaker said in the Octogan.

“He did what he said he was going to do. I thought I ticked all the boxes, but the pressure was a lot.

“He has a lot of skill sets. He’s got a particular way of fighting. I couldn’t really throw too many spanners in the works.

“He got it off more times than not and walked away a winner, good on him.”

The Netherlands' Reinier de Ridder is declared winner after his men's middleweight fight against Rob Whittaker. (Photo by Fadel SENNA / AFP)

A former UFC middleweight champion, Whittaker’s record is now 26-9, and he faces a tough road back to a title fight after losses to de Ridder and Khamzat Chimaev last year.

De Ridder’s record is now 21-2, and he has earned the right to fight some of the biggest names in the middleweight division, calling out Chimaev after the win over Whittaker.

De Ridder said: “I expected to take him down and choke him out, but he was amazing. So tough, so durable, heavy f***ing hands.

Asked who he wanted to fight next, de Ridder said: “Maybe Khamzat, Dricus (du Plessis) next. Let’s go, give me a chance to fight for that strap.”

Originally published as ‘Pretty butthurt’: Rob Whittaker gutted after narrow UFC loss