Robert Whittaker keeps his head high, as usual.
The former middleweight champion suffered a loss in the main event of UFC Abu Dhabi last Saturday, which made a narrow split decision to be delivered to De Ridder in Reinier. Whittaker fought for 25 minutes against the knight and scored a dramatic knockdown in the third, but a few of 48-47 scores for De Ridder won the victory “The Dutch Knight”.
On Tuesday, Whittaker published a statement via Instagram that responded to the loss.
“I am disappointed, but I am not discouraged,” said Whittaker. “There are many things that I enjoyed the fight, but many things I didn’t do. I’m going to take it all, go back to the gym, sit with the team, take it apart and then go back to the horse. That’s all you can do.
“Congratulations to De Ridder. He had a certain game plan, he carried out it well. It got him the victory. It is sometimes what it is, but yes, I will learn from this experience and continue.”
Whittaker, 34, has now lost consecutive fights for the first time since 2014. He wanted to jump back from a filthy face crank -return loss of Khamzat Chimaev last October, but is short of the Scorecards despite some strong moments.
With a title shot so much further away, fans and critics are likely to speculate about how many fights the 16-year-old veteran still has. However, Whittaker made it clear that he is going back in the Octagon, ideally in his home country of Australia.
“This is not the end of Robert Whittaker,” said Whittaker. “This is just a different learning curve, a different speed bump. I’m going to spend some time with my family, I’m just going to rest, restore a little and hopefully go back on an Australian map. It is a while ago, and to be honest, I long for it. It was a while since I fought in Australia and I would fight here again.”
#Robert #Whittaker #releases #explanation #disappointing #UFC #Abu #Dhabi #loss