Reinier de Ridder has officially entered the world of the middleweight elite after a grueling battle against Robert Whittaker at UFC Abu Dhabi.

Reinier de Ridder picked up the biggest win of his career on Saturday when he took a hard-fought split decision over former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker in the main event of UFC Fight Night from Abu Dhabi.

The MMA community reacted to Reinier de Ridder's split decision over Robert Whittaker at UFC Abu Dhabi – with some questioning the result.

What does Reinier de Ridder's win over Robert Whittaker mean for the middleweight division? Brett Okamoto provides his takeaways from UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. de Ridder.

"We would have crossed that bridge when we got there," Robert Whittaker smirked when asked whether he had contingencies in place in case things didn’t exactly go according to plan with Israel Adesanya.

MMA Junkie's Mike Bohn plays matchmaker and looks ahead to what makes sense for Robert Whittaker in this edition of "Sean Shelby's Shoes."

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.

Robert Whittaker had his bottom teeth dislodged in defeat by Khamzat Chimaev in October but is set to return to action against Reinier de Ridder in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.