The main event of UFC Abu Dhabi ended with some controversy.
Former ONE two-division champion Reinier de Ridder nearly got knocked out in his first UFC headliner against Robert Whittaker. The co-main event of the evening saw former bantamweight champion Petr Yan getting his hand raised over Marcus McGhee.
Former UFC middleweight champion Whittaker dropped de Ridder in round 3 of their five-round fight, but de Ridder survived to see the distance.
In the end, de Ridder was awarded the split decision victory, with two out of the three judges scoring rounds 2, 4, and 5 for ‘RDR’.
However, not everybody agreed with the judges.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLCFans react to Robert Whittaker vs. Reinier de Ridder decision
Following de Ridder’s victory, the UFC shared the official scorecards.
Mike Bell was the dissenting judge, who gave Whittaker rounds 1, 3, and 4.
“RDR did not win that 5th round wtf,” one fan wrote on X.
“So we just gonna award hugging on the cage with no damage? SMH.”
“Round 1, 3, and 5 were Robert’s. The sport is flawed because of the scoring system,” another fan wrote.
“Not one judge gave rob round 5 despite stuffing every takedown and out striking de Ridder, STOPPING TAKEDOWNS HAS TO BE ADDED TO THE SCORING CRITERIA,” a fan complained.
“I had Rob up. Very close fight tho…” another fan said.
Reinier de Ridder on who he wants next after fourth-straight UFC win
De Ridder isn’t far off from a third world title in the UFC.
With a win over Whittaker, the former ONE two-division champion should be entering the middleweight top-5 come Tuesday.
Who does ‘RDR’ want to fight next?
The Dutch fighter says he’d like the winner of champion Dricus du Plessis vs. Khamzat Chimaev—the next title fight at UFC 319.
If not, de Ridder mentioned former champion Israel Adesanya as a potential opponent on the UFC Abu Dhabi post-fight show.
De Ridder said Adesanya could make for a great first title defense as well.