Whittaker (26-9 MMA, 17-7 UFC) was lost a split decision to Reinier de Ridder (21-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) in Saturday's main event at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. He almost finished De Ridder when he dropped him in Round 3, but the former ONE dual-champion hung tough to outlast him.

Moving up to middleweight, ‘The Reaper’ has never before experienced consecutive losses, a streak broken only recently. Robert Whittaker came up short against Reinier de Ridder in the main event at UFC Abu Dhabi over the weekend.

Robert Whittaker took some positives from his most recent loss. | Getty/UFC Robert Whittaker is taking his loss to Reinier de Ridder as a learning experience. The former middleweight champion dropped a split decision to de Ridder in the UFC Abu Dhabi headliner at Etihad Arena in Yas Island,