Reinier de Ridder remained undefeated in the UFC with a hard-fought split decision victory over former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker in a grueling five-round affair.

While he did get absolutely bombed with a punch that knocked him to the ground in the third round, de Ridder showed off some impressive grappling and managed to hurt Whittaker several times with some nasty knees to the body. Combine that with his ability to control the distance and outwork Whittaker in the clinch and that was enough for de Ridder to secure the win in the UFC Abu Dhabi main event.

The final scorecards had two judges going 48-47 for de Ridder and the third official at 48-47 for Whittaker. Still that was enough for de Ridder to get the nod as he moves to 4-0 inside the octagon.

“Very close,” de Ridder said about the fight. “I don’t want to fight like this. This guy was too tough. I want to finish a guy in the first round, it would be much better.

“So maybe Khamzat [Chimaev]-Dricus [du Plessis] next. Give me a chance to fight for that strap.”

It was a war of attrition across all five rounds with both fighters gasping for air at times but de Ridder’s workrate and ability to do damage on the feet had to be commended.

When the action started, it was Whittaker quick on the attack while de Ridder countered with a takedown attempt as the middleweights battled for position. After separating, Whittaker fired off a quick left-right combination and de Ridder already had a cut over his eye as he started operating off his back foot.

A right hand from Whittaker was coming at de Ridder like a laser and he was connecting at will. When he finally closed the distance, de Ridder did connect with a thudding knee to Whittaker’s body but the former champion came right back at him with another stinging combination of punches.

While de Ridder was finding a home for his strikes at time, Whittaker was still snapping off the better punches. But de Ridder stayed committed to that knee up the middle and he blasted Whittaker with a couple of hard shots that definitely did some damage.

That led to de Ridder’s first takedown as he got on top of Whittaker where he was peppering away with punches and attempting to advance his position.

“I expected to take him down and choke him out,” de Ridder said about his performance. “But he was amazing. So tough, so durable.”

At the start of round three, de Ridder clipped Whittaker with a slick combination that had him on wobbly legs. Immediately, de Ridder rushed forward trying to get the finish but instead he was met with a huge overhand right from Whittaker that dropped him to the canvas.

Whittaker went down with de Ridder and began hammering away with elbows but the Dutch middleweight resisted enough to survive. After the fighters worked back to the feet, de Ridder recovered enough to then land another takedown on Whittaker, who was equally as exhausted after a frantic exchange.

As time passed, de Ridder was able to close the distance with a little more ease but Whittaker was still resisting well to avoid the takedown. The fighters were exchanging jabs as Whittaker seemed to get a second wind but then de Ridder connected with another damaging knee to the body.

A very close fight gave with the final five minutes as de Ridder once again tried to press Whittaker against the cage while looking for the takedown. Whittaker defended well but kept finding himself in that same position without producing a lot of offense of his own.

When the fighters separated, Whittaker tried to throw some combinations with de Ridder coming back at him with more of the knees up the middle and a slick jab behind it. The fight closed with de Ridder pressing Whittaker against the cage again as time expired.

The outcome obviously wasn’t what Whittaker wanted as he drops his second straight fight following a submission loss to Khamzat Chimaev in his previous outing.

“Pretty butt hurt to be honest,” Whittaker said reacting to the loss. “He did what he said he was going to do. The pressure was a lot. He has a lot of skill sets. He walked away a winner. Good on him.”

The win puts de Ridder in a prime position in the division with reigning champion Dricus du Plessis defending his belt against Chimaev at UFC 319. Now de Ridder has to await the outcome of that fight along with Nassourdine Imavov vs. Caio Borralho at UFC Paris in September to likely determine who gets the next opportunity at the title.