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.

The UFC is back in Abu Dhabi with a former middleweight champion taking on a rising new contender. UFC on ABC 9 (ABC, ESPN, ESPN+) takes place Saturday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Get pick results from our 11 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers, as well as additional analysis, below.

Following a knockout win over Bo Nickal, the Dutchman took on arguably the toughest test of his career against ‘The Reaper’; his first UFC champion. And he came through, just about, overcoming a massive knockdown.

"We would have crossed that bridge when we got there," Robert Whittaker smirked when asked whether he had contingencies in place in case things didn’t exactly go according to plan with Israel Adesanya.

This article was originally published on www.si.com/fannation/mma as UFC bogeyman flattened Robert Whittaker’s teeth with savage choke. Robert Whittaker returns from one of the most devastating losses of his career when he steps in the Octagon this weekend at UFC Abu Dhabi.

UFC star Robert Whittaker has said that UFC boss Dana White helped pay for new teeth following his defeat to Khamzat Chimaev.

Robert Whittaker joins before his headliner in Abu Dhabi against the streaking Reinier de Ridder to discuss his dream retirement fight, having his 6th kid, Khamzat-Dricus, Australia’s UFC takeover, sparring Tim Tszyu and Jai Opetaia,