Robert whittaker is doing well. The former middleweight champion (up to 83,9kg) broke his silence and spoke out for the first time after the brutal defeat against Khamzat Shimaev No. UFC 308, which took place last Saturday (26) in Abu Dhabi. The Australian fighter scared the public and fans by leaving the octagon after receiving a choke on the chin applied by the Russian. Whittaker gave up immediately after the blow, giving the victory to Chimaev.
At the time of the incident, it was thought that Whittaker had dislocated or even broken his jaw. But the former champion revealed that, in fact, the blow delivered by Khamzat Shimaev It hit three of the fighter's teeth, which were pushed in. An old problem, according to the Australian.
“It wasn’t the jaw. It was the teeth. The teeth were pushed in. I pushed them in before when I fought Dricus (du Plessis) as well and they never really recovered. It was from an injury when I was young. I’ve kind of always had loose teeth and they got looser. It was the crank of the face. His forearm went right into the bottom tooth. I didn’t even have a moment to turn my head or anything. It was on. It’s a good excuse to get them fixed properly now. I’m disappointed, but I recover better from every setback and every challenge, so this is no different,” Whittaker revealed.
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It was just the second time in Whittaker's legendary career that he had lost by submission and the first time since 2011, well before his UFC stardom. The Australian had been working toward earning another shot at the UFC middleweight title and entered Saturday on a two-fight winning streak with convincing performances against Ikram Aliskerov and Paulo Costa. However, after fully recovering from the injury, the 33-year-old fighter will have to 'go back to the bread line' after the setback against Chimaev.
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“Thank you all for the love and support. It’s a tough job sometimes but that’s how it goes. Congrats to Khamzat, he was the better man tonight and that’s it. I felt great, everything was on point and I was ready. My jaw is fine but my teeth have moved inwards. It’s a good excuse to get them fixed properly now haha. I’m disappointed but I bounce back from every setback and challenge so this is no different. I want to thank my team and everyone who supported me to get here. Time to spend some time with family. I’ll be back soon.” Robert whittaker
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