Robert Whittaker is on his first losing skid in more than 11 years after UFC Abu Dhabi, raising questions about his future.

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.

At UFC 308 inside Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Arena, Whittaker was quickly submitted by Khamzat Chimaev, who locked in a gruesome face crank that displaced the Australian former champion’s front teeth. Despite the nature of that loss, it is a different defeat that has ‘The Reaper’ wishing for a chance at a do-over.

In the UFC on ABC 9 main event Saturday, de Ridder (21-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) defeated former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker (26-9 MMA, 17-7 UFC) over five rounds. The decision was a split set of 48-47 scorecards. The event took place at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

"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.

‘The Reaper’ will be back at Etihad Arena on July 26, the scene of Whittaker’s crushing loss to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 308. ‘The Reaper’ marked the latest fighter to attempt to blemish Chimaev’s perfect record, but a brutal face crank quickly ruined those plans – and the Australian’s front teeth.

Now 34, Whittaker has been with the UFC since 2012 and was its champion for nearly two full years from 2017 to 2019 before he was TKO'd by Israel Adesanya at UFC 243 in Melbourne,