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UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. De Ridder
VS
Robert Whittaker
Robert Whittaker
26-8 · AUS
July 26, 2025 · Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Middleweight · 5 rounds · Main event
186.0lb
Weigh-in
185.5lb
Reinier de Ridder def. Robert Whittaker by S-DEC, R5 5:00
Performance
Round by round
SSTDKDCtrl
R1
de Ridder15/350/300:12
Whittaker20/340/000:00
R2
de Ridder16/381/302:04
Whittaker9/270/000:00
R3
de Ridder13/301/202:39
Whittaker20/280/010:32
R4
de Ridder14/240/301:56
Whittaker6/220/000:04
R5
de Ridder9/180/402:15
Whittaker11/310/000:00
Total
de Ridder67/1452/1509:06
Whittaker66/1420/010:36

Scorecards

de Ridder vs Whittaker

RdBen CartlidgeDavid LethabyMichael BellCommunity
R19-109-109-109-10
R210-910-910-910-9
R39-109-109-109.1-9.9
R410-910-99-109.8-9.2
R510-910-910-99.7-9.3
Total48-4748-4747-4847.6-47.4

Media (16 cards) · avg 48.146.9 · 16 de Ridder · 0 Whittaker

Official cards + public consensus via MMA Decisions. Per round: de Ridder-Whittaker.

Pre-fight

The model's read going in

The walk-forward model's call at the time of the bout — persisted out-of-sample, with no hindsight about the result.

Prediction
de RidderWin probabilityWhittaker
61.0%39.0%
KO / TKO
27%
Submission
12%
Decision
62%
Expected fight time: 19.7 min
Retrospective pick: the walk-forward model's call at the time of the fight — persisted out-of-sample, with no hindsight about the result.
What drives the pick

Each bar is a feature's push on the model from the center axis. Red pushes toward de Ridder, blue toward Whittaker. Tap a bar for why.

Predicted outcomes
de Ridder61%
Wins by
Model
Equity
Mkt
KO / TKO17%27%12%
Submission10%17%21%
Decision34%56%10%
Predicted output
Sig. strikes66 (2890)act 67
Takedowns2.0 (0.05.6)act 2
Whittaker39%
Wins by
Model
Equity
Mkt
KO / TKO10%26%31%
Submission1%3%5%
Decision28%71%21%
Predicted output
Sig. strikes82 (35111)act 66
Takedowns0.3 (0.01.2)act 0
Combined totals~148 sig strikes~2.3 takedownsmkt —
How it ends
mkt —
R111%
R28%
R310%
R45%
R54%
Distance62%
Fighter props
Most sig. strikestie 0.6%
de Ridder
42.6%+133
Whittaker
-13356.7%
Most takedownstie 25.5%
de Ridder
66.0%-778
Whittaker
+7788.5%
Significant strikes — over/under
de Ridder
Expected: 66.4
66.5
Over 66.5
39.7%
+152
Under 66.5
60.3%
-152
084167
Whittaker
Expected: 81.9
82
Over 82
39.4%
+152
Exactly 82
0.6%
push
Under 82
60.0%
-152
0103205
Takedowns — over/under
de Ridder
Expected: 2.0
2
Over 2
39.4%
+115
Exactly 2
15.2%
push
Under 2
45.4%
-115
047
Whittaker
Expected: 0.3
0.5
Over 0.5
18.3%
+446
Under 0.5
81.7%
-446
035

Odds are model-implied (no real prop market is priced for these). The “most” prices are draw-no-bet — a tie (for takedowns, usually 0–0) is a push, so each side is priced off its chance of winning given a result, while the % shown is the raw chance of landing strictly more. Drag a line in half-point steps: a half line (e.g. 2.5) is a clean over/under, while a whole number adds a third outcome — landing exactly on it, a push — so over, exact and under sum to 100%. On a whole number the over/under odds are draw-no-bet (priced off the decisive mass, since the push refunds), so the two sides stay mirror images rather than implying an arbitrage.

Expected fight time 19.7 min. Predicted-output ranges are percentiles of the model’s simulated fights: sig strikes the middle 50% (25th–75th); takedowns the wider 10th–90th, since they’re 0 in most fights so a narrow band would collapse to 0. Win-by-method = win probability × that fighter’s own method split: the model forecasts how the fight ends, and that forecast is divided between the corners by each fighter’s finishing record — UFC wins in full, earlier-career wins at half weight, as of fight night — reconciled so the fighters’ totals still equal their win probabilities and the methods still total the fight-level forecast above. “Equity” is each of those over that fighter’s win % — how they win given that they win — so a column adds to 100%, and it differs by corner. A fighter with no classifiable wins at any level leans on the fight-level split. “How it ends” is the model’s round-of-finish split. “Mkt” is the de-vigged market prop (consensus across books), shown for context, not as a betting signal; rounds & totals slots fill as that data lands. Percentages are apportioned by largest remainder, so each set adds to its total exactly and an individual figure can sit a point off its own rounding.

Model vs market
Final
ModelMarketGapLine
To win
de Ridder61.0%42.3%+18.7+125
Whittaker39.0%57.7%−18.7-154
By method
de Ridder by KO/TKO16.2%11.8%+4.4+621
de Ridder by submission7.2%20.9%−13.7+307
de Ridder by decision37.6%10.3%+27.3+729
Whittaker by KO/TKO10.4%31.3%−20.9+172
Whittaker by submission4.6%4.6%±0.0+1743
Whittaker by decision24.1%20.9%+3.2+308
Total rounds (over)
Over 1.5 rds89.3%68.1%+21.2-275
Over 2.5 rds80.8%54.8%+26.0-141
Over 3.5 rds71.2%43.1%+28.1+116
Over 4.5 rds65.6%35.0%+30.6+165
Goes the distance
Fight goes to decision61.7%31.2%+30.5+200

Market % is the de-vigged (no-vig) consensus across the books that price both fighters; the line is the average across books with the min–max range in parentheses. Gap is the model minus the market in points (+ = the model rates that outcome above the market). Thin or one-sided markets are flagged or left blank rather than shown as a fabricated %. Shown for context, not as a bet — the closing line is the sharpest public price and the model trails it on average. For 5-round bouts the model splits its round-3+ finish mass into rounds 3–5 by the historical within-bucket rate, so the over-3.5 / 4.5 lines carry a model estimate.

Trait web
70.3Striking69.2
de Ridder +1.1
76.9Grappling43.8
de Ridder +33.0
Str/minStr accStr defAbsorbedTD/15TD accTD defSubs
Hover a point to see the values
de RidderWhittaker
Tale of the tape
Ratings (Elo)
1601
Pound-for-pound
1671
1601
Divisional
1659
1500
Striking offense
1542
1506
Striking defense
1515
1545
Grappling offense
1465
1536
Grappling defense
1569
Physical
34 yrs
Age
34 yrs
6'4"
Height
6'0"
78"
Reach
73"
Southpaw
Stance
Orthodox
Striking (UFC career)
3.25
Strikes landed / min
4.54
61%
Strike accuracy
43%
2.21
Strikes absorbed / min
3.41
44%
Strike defense
60%
Grappling (UFC career)
4.74
Takedowns / 15 min
0.80
39%
Takedown accuracy
38%
67%
Takedown defense
81%
1.4
Sub attempts / 15 min
0.0
Form & résumé
100%
UFC win rate
74%
+3
Win/loss streak
-1
100%
Last-5 win rate
60%
100%
Finish rate
35%
Recent opp. quality
84
Days since last fight
273
Recent form (last 5 UFC)
Reinier de Ridder
  • WBo NickalKO/TKO R2
    Close +3003mo before
  • WKevin HollandSUB R1
    Close -1366mo before
  • WGerald MeerschaertSUB R3
    Close -3299mo before
Robert Whittaker
  • LKhamzat ChimaevSUB R1
    Close +1909mo before
  • WIkram AliskerovKO/TKO R1
    Close -1201y 1mo before
  • WPaulo CostaU-DEC R3
    Close -2181y 5mo before
  • LDricus Du PlessisKO/TKO R2
    Close -3502y 1mo before
  • WMarvin VettoriU-DEC R3
    Close -2192y 11mo before
de Ridder — win / loss by method
Record: 20-2-0

Bar length is fight count (largest bar = full width); shading splits finishes by round and decisions by unanimous vs split — tap a bar for the round-by-round count.

KO/TKO
5 wins, 2 losses
W
25% of wins
L
100% of losses
Submission
13 wins, 0 losses
W
65% of wins
L
0% of losses
Decision
2 wins, 0 losses
W
10% of wins
L
0% of losses
UFC
3win0loss0draw0NC
WinsLosses
1 (33%)KO/TKO() 0
2 (67%)Submission() 0
0 (0%)Decision() 0
Non-UFC
17win2loss0draw0NC
WinsLosses
4 (24%)KO/TKO(100%) 2
11 (65%)Submission(0%) 0
2 (12%)Decision(0%) 0
Whittaker — win / loss by method
Record: 26-8-0

Bar length is fight count (largest bar = full width); shading splits finishes by round and decisions by unanimous vs split — tap a bar for the round-by-round count.

KO/TKO
10 wins, 3 losses
W
38% of wins
L
38% of losses
Submission
5 wins, 2 losses
W
19% of wins
L
25% of losses
Decision
11 wins, 3 losses
W
42% of wins
L
38% of losses
UFC
17win6loss0draw0NC
WinsLosses
6 (35%)KO/TKO(50%) 3
0 (0%)Submission(17%) 1
11 (65%)Decision(33%) 2
Non-UFC
9win2loss0draw0NC
WinsLosses
4 (44%)KO/TKO(0%) 0
5 (56%)Submission(50%) 1
0 (0%)Decision(50%) 1

Profiles

Experience
de Ridder
Whittaker
3
UFC fights
23
22.1 min · 7.4 avg
Octagon time
301.8 min · 13.1 avg
13y 2m
Career length
17y 4m
UFC schedule strength

Opponents' records on fight night — toggle their full cross-promotional record vs UFC bouts only.

de Ridder
Whittaker
70W–29L · 70.7%
Overall
327W–58L · 84.9%
70W–29L · 70.7%
Wins
234W–51L · 82.1%
0W–0L
Losses
93W–7L · 93.0%
Non-UFC schedule strength
de Ridder
Whittaker
201W–58L · 77.6%
Overall
64W–29L · 68.8%
177W–58L · 75.3%
Wins
39W–13L · 75.0%
24W–0L · 100.0%
Losses
25W–16L · 61.0%
Distance striking
de Ridder
Whittaker
6.43
Landed / min
4.98
53.9%
Accuracy
41.2%
56.7%
Defense
63.0%
1.36
Knockdowns / 15 min
0.55
28.8%
Time at distance
78.9%
Grappling & control
de Ridder
Whittaker
4.74
Takedowns / 15 min
0.80
38.9%
Takedown accuracy
38.1%
66.7%
Takedown defense
81.1%
1.36
Sub attempts / 15 min
0.00
63.1%
Control share
50.9%
Strike target map
de Ridder
  • Head54%(39)div 63%
  • Body33%(24)div 20%
  • Legs13%(9)div 17%
Whittaker
  • Head70%(953)div 63%
  • Body11%(149)div 20%
  • Legs20%(267)div 17%

Where each fighter lands significant strikes (career). “div” = the weight-class average.

Reinier de Ridder
CloseSSTDKDCtrl

Per-fight: SS & TD shown landed/attempted; Close = consensus closing line.

Robert Whittaker
CloseSSTDKDCtrl

Per-fight: SS & TD shown landed/attempted; Close = consensus closing line.