Latest news with #SubmissionoftheYear
USA Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Robert Whittaker 'butt hurt' after UFC on ABC 9 split decision loss to Reinier de Ridder
Robert Whittaker thought he did enough to win against Reinier de Ridder in the UFC on ABC 9 main event, but two judges disagreed. Former middleweight champion Whittaker (26-9 MMA, 17-7 UFC) suffered a split decision defeat to de Ridder (21-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) on Saturday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, marked the first time in more than 11 years that he's lost consecutive fights inside the octagon. It was a tense battle over the course of 25 minutes, with de Ridder landing a lot of powerful shots and finding some success with his grappling, while Whittaker was consistent and had the biggest moment of the fight with a thrilling knockdown and near-finish in Round 3. Ultimately it wasn't enough to sway all the scorecards in his favor, and although Whittaker accepted his reality in the immediate aftermath, he expressed that his immediate feeling were that he should've won. "I'm pretty butt hurt to be honest," Whittaker said in his post-fight interview with Michael Bisping inside the octagon. "He did what he said he was going to do. I thought I ticked all the boxes, but his pressure was a lot. Mate, it was just a lot of pressure. He has a lot of skillsets. I mentioned it before, he's got a particular way of fighting. Couldn't really throw too many spammers. He got it off more times than not and walked away the winner. Good on him." Whittaker, 34, is left in a curious spot in the aftermath of UFC on ABC 9. It's his first time since moving up to middleweight more than a decade ago that he's dropped consecutive bouts, with this result following a Submission of the Year defeat to Khamzat Chimaev in October. Prior to UFC on ABC 9, Whittaker voiced his intention to make one more run at the 185-pound belt before retirement. Although there's an argument to be made he deserved the win over de Ridder, his record shows a loss and he now faces some difficult questions.
USA Today
6 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
UFC on ABC 9's Robert Whittaker: Reinier de Ridder 'hasn't fought anyone like me'
ABU DHABI – Robert Whittaker thinks Reinier de Ridder won't want any part of striking with him in the UFC on ABC 9 main event and will be looking for takedowns early and often. Former UFC middleweight champ Whittaker (26-8 MMA, 17-6 UFC) takes on former two-division ONE Championship titleholder de Ridder (19-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC) in Saturday's headliner at Etihad Arena on Yas Island (ABC, ESPN, ESPN+), with some important stakes in the weight class amid a big stretch of fights. Although de Ridder has had a solid start to his octagon tenure thus far with finishes of Gerald Meerschaert, Kevin Holland Bo Nickal, it's Whittaker's belief that this is too big a leap in competition, and it'll show from the outset. "He hasn't fought anyone like me," Whittaker told MMA Junkie at Wednesday's UFC On ABC 9 media day. "Landing my mitts and my getting my hands on him, that's the plan. I'm fast. My striking I think is better than his. So I've got to find the holes, the opening and close them up." When visualizing the fight, Whittaker thinks de Ridder will be keen to get him to the ground as quickly as possible, but he has no intention of allowing it. "He's going to try to take me down straight away I envision," Whittaker said. "He's got good striking, good stand up but he understands where my strengths are, he understands where his strengths may lie and I think he'll want to go to the ground to utilize that." Whittaker, 34, will return to action for the first time since a Submission of the Year loss to Khamzat Chimaev in a title eliminator at UFC 308 in October. His teeth were mangled in nasty fashion from the technique, and he was forced to take some time off to get surgery and recover. That injury has been left long in the past by Whittaker at this point, he said, and he's eager to show he can get back in the title mix at 185 pounds. "I'm 100 percent," Whittaker said. "Recovery wasn't that long. I just had them taken out and resettled. If anything they were better than they were before, and the price was paid by Uncle Dana, so it's working good."
USA Today
27-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Renan Barao vs. Urijah Faber, Anthony Pettis vs. Benson Henderson trilogies land atop GFL's L.A. cards
MMA fans still have to wait a couple months before judging the first Global Fight League events. But if they're combat sports autograph hounds, they might have reason to be excited about the fledgling promotion's events in Los Angeles. The GFL will set up shop at Shrine Auditorium in L.A. on May 24-25. Each night currently has 15 fights planned, according to Tapology. The promotion has not yet made a formal announcement of the cards, but they're heavy with former UFC and Bellator champions and title challengers. A pair of trilogies are at the top of the bill May 24. Multi-time UFC title challenger and former WEC champ Urijah Faber will fight former UFC interim bantamweight champ Renan Barao for a third time. Faber lost an interim title fight to Barao at UFC 149 in 2012. Four wins later, he had another shot at him, but was knocked out in the first round. Faber retired in 2019. Barao has lost six straight fights and eight of his past nine. He returned in 2023 after nearly four years away and lost a split decision to a regional fighter at an event in Kuwait. In the GFL's team system, Faber was drafted by Team Los Angeles. Barao is a member of Team Sao Paulo. L.A.'s other bantamweight is former UFC title challenger Ray Borg; Sao Paulo's other 135er is ex-UFC standout Raphael Assuncao. Also on that bill is a trilogy fight between former UFC and WEC lightweight champ Anthony Pettis and ex-UFC and WEC 155-pound titleholder Benson Henderson. Pettis beat Henderson in the final fight in WEC history to win the lightweight title in 2010. Less than three years later, he pulled off MMA's consensus Submission of the Year to take a belt from Henderson again – that time in the UFC. Pettis signed with the PFL in 2021, but lost four of his five fights there and was a high-profile signee who didn't pan out. Henderson left the UFC for Bellator in 2016 and had a lengthy tenure there, but lost three title shots at welterweight and lightweight, including to Usman Nurmagomedov in what was Bellator's final card before it was purchased and shelved by the PFL. Pettis was drafted by Team Miami. Henderson fights for Team London. In the PFL's team system, fighters score points each bout. A finish win is worth 4, a decision win is 3, a draw is 2, a decision loss is 1 – and if you're stopped, yourself, your team gets 0 points. There is no shortage of high-impact names throughout the rest of the card who have made major MMA accomplishments, as well as some unique matchups. The current lineups include: GFL Los Angeles, May 24 Urijah Faber (LA) vs. Renan Barao (SP) Anthony Pettis (MIA) vs. Benson Henderson (LON) Holly Holm (NY) vs. Julia Budd (LON) Chad Mendes (LA) vs. Maike Linhares (SP) Derek Brunson (DUB) vs. Omari Akhmedov (DUB) Sage Northcutt (LA) vs. Lucas Martins (SP) Marlon Moraes (MIA) vs. Ray Borg (LA) Aspen Ladd (LA) vs. Alejandra Lara (SP) Robelis Despaigne (MIA) vs. Todd Duffee (DUB) Cat Zingano (MIA) vs. Alexa Conners (DUB) Neiman Gracie (NY) vs. Danny Roberts (LON) Jessica Penne (LA) vs. Joice Mara (SP) Charles Rosa (MIA) vs. Khumoyun Tukhtamuradov (DUB) Marisa Messer-Belenchia (NY) vs. Kelly Staddon (LON) Gleison Tibau (MIA) vs. Alex Oliveira (SP) GFL Los Angeles, May 25
