Khamzat Chimaev forced me to ‘get rid of crappy teeth' – Robert Whittaker details aftermath of horror UFC injury
The former middleweight champion and fan favourite locked horns with the Russian wrecking machine last October at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi.
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Former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker locked horns with Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 308 last November
Credit: Getty
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Whittaker suffered a crushing first-round submission defeat to the Chechen clubber
Credit: GETTY
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Chimaev's face crank pushed back three of Whittaker's lower teeth and left him a bloody mess
Credit: DANIEL CORMIER
Whittaker was, on paper, set to be the toughest test of the undefeated
The opposite ended up happening, with
The Aussie immediately tapped to the submission, which had a devastating effect on his bottom row of teeth.
The force of Chimaev's crank
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And he was forced to get new
teeth
implanted as a result of the devastation caused by Chimaev.
In an exclusive interview with SunSport, Whittaker laughed as he said of the viral injury: "My teeth got moved in and I got 'em straightened up.
"And then [I got them] taken out and spent some time with the family over
Christmas
.
"And I also had some time off and focused on some other projects and went back to training and worked on some new skills.
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Robert Whittaker has had some new gnashers put in
Credit: GETTY
"And here we are."
Whittaker doesn't miss his old teeth, which were so troublesome over the last 15 years that he wasn't able to take a proper bite of an
apple
.
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'I felt it click' admits Khamzat Chimaev after inflicting gruesome injury on Robert Whittaker in brutal win at UFC 308
"They were crappy teeth," the 34-year-old said. "So I just got rid of them."
Whittaker will bid to get back in the win column on July 26 in the main event of the UFC's latest card in
Saudi Arabia
.
Standing across from him on fight night will be surging contender Reinier de Ridder, who is fresh off a sensational stoppage victory over former hot prospect Bo Nickal and riding a three-fight win streak.
Robert Whittaker will feature in the headline fight at UFC® FIGHT NIGHT: WHITTAKER vs. DE RIDDER. UFC returns to Abu Dhabi on July 26th, tickets are currently on sale via
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