Latest news with #Whittaker
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Robert Whittaker 'disappointed but not disheartened' after UFC on ABC 9 loss
Robert Whittaker is already looking ahead after falling short at UFC on ABC 9. Whittaker (26-9 MMA, 17-7 UFC) was lost a split decision to Reinier de Ridder (21-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) in Saturday's main event at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. He almost finished De Ridder when he dropped him in Round 3, but the former ONE dual-champion hung tough to outlast him. "OK everybody, it's a couple days since the fight, thought I'd give you all an update," Whittaker said on his Instagram. "I'm disappointed, but I'm not disheartened. There were a lot of things I liked about the fight, there were a lot of things I didn't, but I'm going to take it all, head back to the gym, sit with the team, pick it apart and then get back on the horse. That's all you can do. Congratulations to de Ridder. He had a particular game plan, he executed it well, it got him the win. It is what it is sometimes. I'm going to learn from this experience and move forward." Whittaker has his sights set on competing at home in Australia next, something he hasn't done since he lost the middleweight title to Israel Adesanya in October 2019. "This isn't the end of Robert Whittaker, this is just another learning curve, another speed bump," Whittaker added. "I'm going to spend some time with my family, going to just rest and recover a little bit and then hopefully get back on an Australian card. It's been a while and honestly, I'm longing for it. It's been a while since I've fought in Australia, and I'd love to fight here again. It's time, but that's me. Thank you very much everybody, tuning out." This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Robert Whittaker gives insight on future after UFC Abu Dhabi loss
BBC News
a day ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Cottingley Fairies fetch £2,600 at Louth auction rooms
The previous owner of the world-famous Cottingley Fairies photographs said he was "amazed" to see them sell for more than £2, pictures, taken by Frances Griffiths and Elsie Wright between 1917 and 1920, apparently depicted the cousins surrounded by magical creatures in a garden in of the five photos went under the hammer in Louth, Lincolnshire, on Tuesday after they were saved by David Whittaker, the son of Frances's best friend Mary Anderson, who had given her a set when they were at school."I'm very pleased that there is now another custodian and they aren't just sitting in a drawer in our house," Mr Whittaker said. Mr Whittaker said his mother had "spent her life believing in fairies" but wanted to throw them out when Elsie confessed in 1983 that they were fake and made out of paper cut-outs and single lot, which sold for £2,600 within two minutes at John Taylors, included two photographs in original wallets, a photo of Mary and Frances on an outing in the early 1920s, and an archive of other material.A spokesperson for the auction rooms said the outcome had "almost doubled pre-sale expectations" and had been snapped up by a collector based in London."The interest in it has been absolutely phenomenal," they said. The pictures became a worldwide sensation when Sherlock Holmes author Arthur Conan Doyle published them in 1920, believing them to be had been examined by experts and one of them was commissioned by Bradford's Theosophical Society to produce a number of prints to be passed a set to Mary, who "totally believed" they were genuine, said Mr Whittaker. Mr Whittaker said: "My immediate reaction is I'm amazed someone would be prepared to pay so much."He said his mother would have been "very shocked that she had something so valuable".He added: "She would be in two minds as to whether in actual fact these kind of things should carry on when she was convinced in the end it was all a hoax."Despite that, Mr Whittaker said there were people who "still believe in these creatures of the spirit world" and he was sure they would "thoroughly enjoy looking at these pictures". Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here. Download the BBC News app from the App Store for iPhone and iPad or Google Play for Android devices
USA Today
a day ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Robert Whittaker 'disappointed but not disheartened' after UFC on ABC 9 loss
Robert Whittaker is already looking ahead after falling short at UFC on ABC 9. Whittaker (26-9 MMA, 17-7 UFC) was lost a split decision to Reinier de Ridder (21-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) in Saturday's main event at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. He almost finished De Ridder when he dropped him in Round 3, but the former ONE dual-champion hung tough to outlast him. "OK everybody, it's a couple days since the fight, thought I'd give you all an update," Whittaker said on his Instagram. "I'm disappointed, but I'm not disheartened. There were a lot of things I liked about the fight, there were a lot of things I didn't, but I'm going to take it all, head back to the gym, sit with the team, pick it apart and then get back on the horse. That's all you can do. Congratulations to de Ridder. He had a particular game plan, he executed it well, it got him the win. It is what it is sometimes. I'm going to learn from this experience and move forward." Whittaker has his sights set on competing at home in Australia next, something he hasn't done since he lost the middleweight title to Israel Adesanya in October 2019. "This isn't the end of Robert Whittaker, this is just another learning curve, another speed bump," Whittaker added. "I'm going to spend some time with my family, going to just rest and recover a little bit and then hopefully get back on an Australian card. It's been a while and honestly, I'm longing for it. It's been a while since I've fought in Australia, and I'd love to fight here again. It's time, but that's me. Thank you very much everybody, tuning out."
USA Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
UFC analyst says Robert Whittaker's title days over after UFC on ABC 9 loss
Din Thomas was impressed with the fighting spirit of Robert Whittaker at UFC on ABC 9, but can't overlook the negative career impact of the result against Reiner de Ridder. Thomas was on-site Saturday in Abu Dhabi serving as the broadcast analyst when former middleweight champion Whittaker (26-9 MMA, 17-7 UFC) suffered a split decision loss to de Ridder (20-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) at Etihad Arena. It was a competitive battle with both men getting hurt at moments and fighting hard until the end, and two of three judges had it for the former two-division ONE Championship titleholder. At could've been a deflating moment for Whittaker, who lost consecutive fights for the first time since 2014. Instead, he only said he was "butt hurt" about what happened then left the octagon with no further excuses. And Thomas likes what he saw in that moment. "Even when the result was read and he lost, he still seemed to be in a good place," Thomas told MMA Junkie. "I like this for Robert Whittaker because he's not sour, he didn't seem like he was complaining and he wasn't pointing fingers at anybody. He knew what he was in with that fight and he knew it was a tough fight, he knew it wasn't a dominant performance so neither fighter could complain either way. "I was really impressed with Robert Whittaker his ability to withstand those hard times in the fight and have a lot of positivity left a lot of confidence in his ability to win. ... In the trenches in this fight, Robert Whittaker still seemed to be able to bounce back, and I liked that. I thought it was inspiring." Despite his commendable performance, results are almost always the ultimate dictator in the UFC, and now Whittaker's record shows four losses in his past seven fights, albeit to elite competition. At 34, Whittaker has logged more than four hours of total fight time during his run at 185 pounds. It's a crossroads moment going forward, and with the top of the division being as intruiging as ever, Thomas said it would be a good time for Whittaker to drop down in rankings and fight someone who will truly serve as a barometer. "I think you give him Roman Kopylov," Thomas said. "I think you give him Kopylov before you start feeding him to the guys. Before we say, 'We're done with you and we're going to start feeding you.' Because Kopylov is somewhere in the back of the rankings. You give him Kopylov to say, 'We're giving you No. 15 and if you win that we keep you up here. We'll keep you fighting these guys. But if you lose that, now you've got to fight the up-and-comers.'" Fighting up-and-comers is surely a far cry from what Whittaker wants to do, but Thomas said it's not an easy spot. "The Reaper" needs a victory to keep his head above water with the emerging contenders, but as far as the pre-fight plans he expressed to have a "fairytale end" to his career with UFC gold? Thomas said that seems like a long shot. "No, if I had to bet I wouldn't assume he gets there," Thomas said. "It's interesting though because he said he had a four-fight plan to get back to a title. Now it looks like it's going to take about four fights. With a win over RDR it would've of been less than four fights." To hear more from Thomas, check out his complete appearance on "The Bohnfire" podcast with MMA Junkie senior reporter Mike Bohn above.
Gulf Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- Gulf Today
De Ridder defeats Whittaker by split decision in Abu Dhabi
Reinier de Ridder took home a split-decision victory Saturday over Robert Whittaker in the main event of UFC Fight Night at Abu Dhabi. De Ridder (21-2-0 MMA) earned a 48-47 margin from two judges, Ben Cartlidge and David Lethaby, while Mike Bell was the lone judge to give the edge to Whittaker (27-9-0 MMA) at 48-47. Whittaker landed a big knockdown with a strike in the third round of the middleweight match, but de Ridder recovered and dominated the stat sheet. De Ridder landed 192 total strikes, while Whittaker connected on only 70. Additionally, de Ridder recorded two takedowns. 'I expected to take him down and choke him out,' de Ridder said. 'He was amazing. So tough, so durable, heavy f--ing hands.' The 34-year-old continues to rise up the ranks in the middleweight division, picking up his fourth straight UFC win and fifth MMA victory in a row. Elsewhere on the main card, Bogdan Guskov (18-3-0 MMA) knocked out Nikita Krylov (30-11-0 MMA) 4:18 into the first round of their light heavyweight matchup. It is the fourth consecutive win by either knockout or submission for the Uzbekistani. Petr Yan (19-5-0 MMA) defeated Marcus McGhee (10-2-0 MMA) by unanimous decision in a bantamweight clash. Yan outpaced his opponent in total strikes, significant strikes, control and takedowns. In the middleweight match, Shara Magomedov (16-1-0 MMA) bounced back from his first professional loss, which came against Michael Page (23-3-0 MMA) in February, to win over Marc-Andre Barriault (17-10-0 MMA) by unanimous decision. Magomedov earned a 30-27 score from all three judges. Flyweight competitor Asu Almabayev (22-3-0 MMA) also won by unanimous decision, defeating 24-year-old Peruvian Jose Ochoa (8-2-0 MMA). Ochoa battled, landing 118 total strikes, but Almabayev controlled the fight with seven takedowns. In the prelims, Muslim Salikhov (22-5-0 MMA) landed the highlight of the night, knocking out opponent Carlos Leal (22-7-0 MMA) in only 42 seconds in their welterweight fight. Earlier, Whittaker ha dlost his fight against Chimaev in October. Chimaev needed just one takedown to dominate Whittaker with relentless grappling, ultimately securing the position for a submission. Locking his arms around Whittaker's jaw, Chimaev tightened his grip, prompting an almost immediate tap-out. The bout concluded at 3:34 of the first round, moving Chimaev's undefeated record to 14-0 overall and 8-0 in the UFC. Following the fight, Whittaker disclosed that he had likely suffered a dislocated jaw due to the submission. With this victory, 'Borz' strengthens his position as a top contender in the middleweight division. After the victory, Chimaev directly called for a title shot, stating, 'I'm coming for the belt.' Reflecting on his fight, he said, 'When I took him down, I controlled him in that position and got the choke in. I submitted him so quickly.' Chimaev also praised Abu Dhabi, calling it the best city in the world: 'Abu Dhabi safe and an amazing place. There are a lot of different things happening here for the future, for kids, and for life. I've been here many times, and now I live here. It's the best place.' Speaking about the fans, he added, 'They were amazing, supporting me a lot. From day one I fought here, I felt their support, and I still feel it.' Meanwhiel, in the main card fights, Sharaputdin Magomedov maintained his unbeaten record with a TKO win over Armen Petrosyan, delivering a double backfist finish at 4:52 of Round 2. In another bout, Magomed Ankalaev put on a striking masterclass to secure a unanimous decision victory against Aleksandar Rakić. Additionally, Lerone Murphy extended his impressive undefeated streak with a win over Dan Ige. With UFC 308 living up to its billing, Abu Dhabi Showdown Week came to a stunning close, delivering plenty of thrilling moments for the fans who flew into the UAE capital from all over the world, as well as for residents.
