UFC Abu Dhabi takeaways: Why Whittaker's loss is good for the middleweight division

Former ONE Championship two-division champion Reinier de Ridder enactment the UFC's middleweight part connected announcement with a divided determination win implicit erstwhile titleholder Robert Whittaker successful the main lawsuit of UFC Fight Night astatine Etihad Arena successful Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, connected Saturday.

Despite being knocked down and astir finished by Whittaker, de Ridder showed his resoluteness by storming backmost to outpoint Whittaker and gain the win. De Ridder is 4-0 since making his promotional debut past November. What did we larn astir the authorities of the middleweight part successful de Ridder's victory?

In the co-main event, erstwhile men's bantamweight champion Petr Yan proved he's inactive a unit successful the part with a unanimous determination triumph implicit Marcus McGhee. Could we spot him challenging to reclaim the loop soon?

And what should we marque of Shara Magomedov's triumph implicit Marc-Andre Barriault connected the main card?

Here are the biggest takeaways from Saturday's UFC Fight Night card.

Robert Whittaker's nonaccomplishment is sad, but champion for the division

Whittaker is 1 of the modern OGs of the sport. No frills, conscionable shows up and does the job. He was underappreciated aboriginal successful his career. He won the UFC's interim rubric successful 2017 and was aboriginal denied the accidental to unify that rubric against a large sanction similar Michael Bisping oregon Georges St-Pierre. Instead, Bisping and St-Pierre fought each other, past retired. Whittaker's reward for winning the UFC rubric turned into back-to-back matchups against the ridiculously pugnacious Yoel Romero.

Whittaker went connected to suffer the loop successful devastating fashion, getting knocked retired successful beforehand of his location state fans by a generational endowment successful Israel Adesanya. He softly went astir the concern of earning a 2nd ace astatine Adesanya 3 years later, lone to travel up abbreviated successful a adjacent decision. He has been somewhat formed successful the relation of a divisional gatekeeper since. Both Dricus Du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev, who volition quadrate disconnected for the title astatine UFC 319 adjacent month, punched their tickets to a UFC rubric changeable by defeating Whittaker.

I'm not acceptable for the Whittaker epoch to end, but passim 5 rounds connected Saturday, it was beauteous wide that it is ending. Whittaker's toughness, his volition to triumph and his combat IQ are each inactive intact. But he's 34 years old. De Ridder is lone 2 months younger than "Bobby Knuckles" but moves arsenic if the property spread were 5 years. If you told maine Whittaker would person been up connected the scorecards going into the title rounds connected Saturday (which helium was), I would person confidently picked him to win. De Ridder besides has acquisition successful fights scheduled for 5 rounds, but not against this level of competition. De Ridder ended up winning some the 4th and 5th rounds -- the fifth, unanimously.

De Ridder winning and surging up with his 3rd triumph of 2025 is champion for the middleweight division. De Ridder is getting better. Whittaker, arsenic overmuch arsenic it hurts to say, is showing signs of slowing down. He's inactive among the apical fighters successful the part and maintains each of the traits that made him a champion, but they're each operating astatine 1 cogwheel less. He inactive has fights left, but successful presumption of excitement for the 185-pound division, it's de Ridder's time.

Petr Yan could beryllium the astir underrated combatant successful the UFC

In the past 5 years, determination whitethorn not beryllium a combatant successful the UFC with a much misleading grounds than Yan. He won the UFC title successful July 2020, improving to a nonrecreational grounds of 15-1. He went connected to suffer his loop to Aljamain Sterling successful his archetypal attempted defense, disqualified successful the infamous amerciable genu incidental of UFC 259.

Yan was liable for the amerciable shot, but it wasn't a nonaccomplishment successful the mode we typically deliberation of one. He went connected to bushed Cory Sandhagen for an interim title successful 2022 and was inactive wide considered 1 of the champion pound-for-pound fighters successful the world. Since then, helium has fallen unfortunate to razor-thin divided determination losses to Sterling and Sean O'Malley, and helium besides mislaid to the eventual champion, Merab Dvalishvili. The Dvalishvili combat was the worst show of Yan's UFC career. Some of that is connected Yan, but immoderate of it was besides a effect of atrocious luck.

At the highest of his occurrence -- close astir that disqualification nonaccomplishment to Sterling -- Yan looked arsenic bully arsenic immoderate combatant successful the world. Sterling amazed him successful the rematch, turning a one-sided matter successful their archetypal bout into a competitory bout conscionable 1 twelvemonth later. And past O'Malley squeaked by successful a determination that galore fans felt was acold much arguable than the 1 against Sterling. Yan's three-fight skid culminated successful a demoralizing nonaccomplishment to Dvalishvili successful 2023. There are rumors that Yan had suffered an undisclosed wounded up of that fight.

Yan hasn't rather commanded the aforesaid attraction since helium mislaid the title. But if a fewer tiny things had played retired differently, Yan whitethorn inactive beryllium the bantamweight champion and a pound-for-pound candidate. And contempt however one-sided the archetypal combat was, a rematch against Dvalishvili is intriguing to me.

Shara Magomedov's vocation volition beryllium a bumpy, amusive ride

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Bloodied Magomedov prevails successful slugfest against Barriault

Shara Magomedov and Marc-Andre Barriault enactment connected a amusement astatine UFC 318 successful Abu Dhabi.

It was highly fitting, the enactment betwixt Magomedov and UFC commentator Michael Bisping wrong the Octagon instantly aft Magomedov's fight. After his triumph implicit Marc-Andre Barriault, the 31-year-old delayed the postfight interrogation to fto Bisping cognize however blessed helium was to spot the erstwhile UFC middleweight champion.

"You're a large information to me," Magomedov, who improved to 5-1 successful the UFC, told Bisping. "Step by step, I volition go champion."

While Magomedov's way to a UFC rubric won't precisely reflector Bisping's of years ago, I deliberation they'll beryllium akin successful that determination volition beryllium plentifulness of ups and downs. Bisping's way to a rubric was agelong and difficult, arsenic helium appeared successful 25 fights earlier getting a rubric shot. Magomedov's rubric aspirations volition astir apt beryllium decided good earlier 19 fights from now, but helium appears destined to look obstacles on the way.

Saturday's triumph was remarkably impressive. Magomedov's high-level striking jumps disconnected the screen, and his takedown defence was astir perfect. He overcame adversity successful Round 2, erstwhile Barriault crushed his chemoreceptor with a flush close hand. The changeable intelligibly bothered Magomedov, but helium showed bosom successful not lone coming backmost and winning the round, but finishing the combat lasting implicit Barriault aft a comparatively ascendant 3rd round.

All that said, Magomedov was much than a 6-to-1 betting favourite connected Saturday, according to ESPN BET. As bully arsenic it was to spot him get the win, it's besides worthy pointing retired helium did not predominate successful the mode a 6-to-1 favourite is expected to. In his quality earlier this weekend, helium suffered a determination nonaccomplishment to Michael "Venom" Page, who is simply a earthy welterweight. There's a batch to similar astir Magomedov, but it has already been demonstrated that helium is not going to breeze his mode to a UFC rubric shot. There volition beryllium a batch of adversity on the way.

But arsenic helium showed connected Saturday, Magomedov is up for it. And the information that helium views Bisping arsenic a root of information signals that helium knows the hard way he's successful for.