Former UFC champion Robert Whittaker is back for a key middleweight main event.
On July 26, Whittaker (26-8 MMA, 17-6 UFC) will face Reinier de Ridder to headline the UFC’s return to Abu Dhabi. The promotion officially announced the matchup Saturday, prior to UFC 315.
Whittaker gets his first assignment of 2025 and will look to bounce back from a first-round submission loss to Khamzat Chimaev in October at UFC 308. “The Reaper” underwent dental surgery for the damage caused during the fight, which has kept him on the sidelines. The result ended a two-fight run of victories: a unanimous decision over Paulo Costa and a Performance of the Night stoppage of Ikram Aliskerov.
Recently, Whittaker said he wanted to return in June against Sean Strickland, but de Ridder (20-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC) earned himself a big fight after an impressive outing against Bo Nickal at UFC on ESPN 67. The former ONE Championship titleholder finished the national champion wrestler in the second round to extend his winning streak to four.
De Ridder is unbeaten in the UFC and has stopped every opponent he’s faced thus far. Gerald Meerschaert, Kevin Holland, and Nickal were stopped before the final horn. The stoppage over Nickal earned de Ridder his first $50,000 bonus.
