Reinier de Ridder eyes Chimaev vs Du Plessis victor after narrow win over Robert Whittaker

‘RDR’ won a split decision against the former champion to move a step closer to a UFC middleweight title shot

Reinier de Ridder will turn his attention to a middleweight title shot next, after beating former champion Robert Whittaker in the main event of UFC Abu Dhabi.

De Ridder won a split decision against Whittaker after a razor-close contest, emerging a 48-47, 47-48, 48-47 victor. With that, the Dutchman moved to 4-0 since making his UFC debut in November.

On top of that impressive run, “RDR” has pedigree as a former two-weight champion in ONE, which might work in his favour as he looks to race into a title shot.

The grappling specialist, 34, was unable to find the stoppage against Whittaker – having TKOed Bo Nickal and submitted Gerald Meerschaert and Kevin Holland in his previous UFC bouts – and he was even dropped by a huge overhand in round three.

But just as he did against Nickal last time out, De Ridder sapped Whittaker’s energy with brutal knees to the body, and he was able to control the Australian, 34, for long spells in certain rounds.

By losing the decision, Whittaker fell to back-to-back losses for the first time since 2014. In his previous fight, in October, he suffered a first-round submission by Khamzat Chimaev, who will challenge Dricus Du Plessis for the middleweight title in August.

And De Ridder is adamant that he wants to fight the winner of that contest, or even weigh in as the back-up fighter.

“Very close,” De Ridder said about his fight with Whittaker. “I don’t want to fight like this. This guy was too tough. I want to finish a guy in the first round, it would be much better. I expected to take him down and choke him out, but he was amazing. So tough, so durable.

“Maybe Khamzat, Dricus next. Give me a chance to fight for that strap.”