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.”
