A middleweight clash with title implications headlines UFC Fight Night in Abu Dhabi. Former UFC champion Robert Whittaker and former two-division ONE Championship king Reinier de Ridder fight weeks before a 185-pound title fight at UFC 319.

The entire UFC Abu Dhabi card, including Robert Whittaker vs. Reinier de Ridder, has final faceoffs at ceremonial weigh-ins.

"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.

This article was originally published on www.si.com/fannation/mma as 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.

After Whittaker beat Yoel Romero to become interim champion and was later elevated to undisputed king when Georges St-Pierre vacated the throne, ‘The Reaper’ hoped to continue his charge toward greatness. At 185 pounds, the next step was a unification fight against Adesanya. Beyond that, though, the Australian had eyes on another piece of UFC gold.

Robert Whittaker’s teeth were brutally shattered in his last UFC fight. And with ‘The Reaper’ set to return to the same venue as his crushing defeat to Khamzat Chimaev last time

Two judges scored the fight in the champion’s favor but what the UFC commentary team, and Joe Rogan in particular took issue with, was that Romero wasn’t awarded a 10-8 round in the third or fifth. After the fight ended, Rogan made it clear on the broadcast that he was puzzled by the scoring.