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' was once ontop of the world, holding the middleweight championship and defending it against Yoel Romero. Since losing the title to Israel Adesanya in 2019, Whittaker has been chewed out in a rematch with Adesanya, and a knockout loss to Dricus du Plessis.

These defeats would pale in comparison to a submission loss Whittaker endured in October 2024, where Khamzat Chimaev proved all doubters wrong by forcing Whittaker to tap inside one round.

Robert Whittake — Per Haljestam-Imagn Images

Khamzat Chimaev did Whittaker a favor by flattening his teeth

Whittaker was expected to be the toughest test to date for Chimaev, who remains the best one-round fighter the promotion has ever seen.

The Aussie's takedown defense, gas tank, and five round experience spelled all sorts of trouble for the Chechen wolf, who showed signs of fatigue in past performances. Chimaev would eliminate the use for extra rounds by finding Whittaker's back early and applying a face crank that forced the tap.

Fans were confused with the finish as Whittaker tapped uncharacteristically quick, but as they'd find out by Daniel Cormier leaking post-fight photos after the event, he had every right to finish the fight. Chimaev's crank had completely flattened Whittaker's bottom row of teeth.

Chimaev really removed half of Whittakers’teeth with a face crank wtf😭 pic.twitter.com/1SfiqHpgVZ
— 🌴ᴛʜᴇᴀʀᴛᴏꜰᴡᴀʀ🌴 (@TheArtOfWar6) October 26, 2024

Following the loss, Whittaker revealed he'd always had issues with those teeth, and while getting them removed, doctor's found a 'massive' cyst in his jaw.

"They've [my bottom teeth] always been crap, like, I haven't been able to bite down on an apple since I was 19," Whittaker revealed on the MMArcade Podcast. " ... They're just gone, don't need them, my life is better without them... Fun fact though, when they took them out they found a massive cyst in my jaw, and they think that might have been where the infections were coming from for the teeth."

😳🦷Robert Whittaker had the teeth removed that were broken in the fight with Khamzat Chimaev:

“My teeth always have been cracked. I haven’t been able to bite down on an apple… So I got rid of them, theyʼre gone.”

🎥 @MMArcadePodcast ▫️ pic.twitter.com/6xygCi3sIB
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) November 26, 2024

Taking the appropriate time off, Whittaker now fights Reinier de Ridder this weekend in the main event of UFC Abu Dhabi. 'RDR' is a another submission threat, but he poses an even bigger challenge, that of Whittaker maintaining relevance in the UFC middleweight title picture.

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