De Ridder's Abu Dhabi victory was as close as it gets. Roughly half of all fans and media members scored it for Whittaker. Regardless, the result is in, and 'RDR' is a new challenger in the 185-pound division. This means accepting trash talk from his contemporaries.

Reinier de Ridder is in a strong position in the middleweight division after beating a former UFC champion for the first time in Robert Whittaker on Saturday at UFC on ABC 9.