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Reinier de Ridder claimed a sweeping victory on points in his clash with Robert Whittaker at the UFC gala in Abu Dhabi.
Robert Whittaker and Reinier de Ridder faced off in the evening fight of the UFC Abu Dhabi gala. The duel was contracted for five rounds in the middleweight division limit. The former champion was a slight favorite for the most important bout of Saturday’s event.
Whittaker’s clash with de Ridder was important from the perspective of the further balance of power in the up to 84 kilogram category. A win for Reaper would allow him to remain close to the top, while a loss would make him have to act as gatekeeper of the division.
Very big cauldrons from the beginning of the clash. De Ridder goes for the bring however the Australian successfully defends himself. In a rather unusual position, the Dutchman brings out two strong knees. Robert Whittaker breaks the clinch. A great reach by the former champion, who hits two punches and cuts the skin on Reinier’s head with them. Whittaker imposes pressure and hits again and again thanks to his speed advantage. The Dutchman clinches and delivers two punches with knees, but the Australian immediately breaks the grip and responds with long punches that reach his opponent’s head. Whittaker hits with a great hook. De Ridder responds with a knee. Whittaker sets up the clash with a good first round.
Robert continues and hits however Reinier responds with a long hook. The Australian cleverly brings out punches from different angles, which forces de Ridder to get down to the rival’s legs. Whittaker defends the bring and punishes the rival with punches. An exchange of punches in which Whittaker was more accurate, but Reineir responded with a strong knee. Unexpectedly, de Ridder hits another hard knee thanks to which he manages to move the fight to the mat.
The Dutchman is working with punches from the top. De Ridder passed the position, however, Whittaker excelled at twisting on the ground. The former ONE double champion successfully works elbows and torments the Australian. De Ridder hits powerful knees and Whittaker is in huge trouble. However, Robert survived and responded with a harsh punch, with which he put the Dutchman on the mat. Whittaker attacks with ground and pound. Back to the standup. In the middle of the third round, De Ridder managed to move the fight to the mat. Whittaker defended well and made it to the end of the round.
Reinier de Ridder enters the clinch very quickly, at the very beginning of the fourth round. Whittaker managed to break his opponent’s grip for a moment, however after a while the Dutchman initiated the clinch again. De Ridder goes down into his opponent’s legs, however Robert defended himself nicely. The Australian, however, had a net right behind his back, which put the fighters back in the clinch. Whittaker counters, however, he looks extremely tired. An exchange of single punches. The pace of the fight slowed down. A good right straight and a nice feint by de Ridder, who faked a right attack and hit nicely with a left. The Dutchman hits and moves however the next action was not so successful. End of the round.
Robert Whittaker started the fifth round more aggressively. However, Reinier entered the clinch and presses his opponent to the net. The Australian successfully breaks the clinch. De Ridder, however, again moves to his feet looking to get a takedown, to no avail. Another attempt by the Dutchman and once again Whittaker did not let himself be brought down. De Ridder clinches under the net, however, not much comes of it. No punches and low pace of the duel. Two successful punches by Reinier and a knee correction. However, a minute before the end of the fight we again have a clinch, which does not please the fans. In the end, Whittaker tried to attack the less experienced rival, however, the latter once again entered the clinch. The judges will decide the outcome of the fight. Reinier de Ridder defeated Robert Whittaker after a unanimous decision by the judges.
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