Reinier de Ridder picked up the biggest win of his career on Saturday when he took a hard-fought split decision over former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker in the main event of UFC Fight Night from Abu Dhabi.

The latest UFC Fight Night event was held in Abu Dhabi and was headlined by a middleweight clash between Robert Whittaker and Reinier De Ridder.

UFC middleweight Reinier de Ridder solidified himself as a legitimate title contender in defeating Robert Whittaker by split decision at UFC Fight Night in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

SportsLine's Daniel Vithlani reveals his picks for the UFC Fight Night fight card from Etihad Arena at Yas Island in Yas West United Arab Emirates on Saturday

In the UFC on ABC 9 main event Saturday, de Ridder (21-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) defeated former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker (26-9 MMA, 17-7 UFC) over five rounds. The decision was a split set of 48-47 scorecards. The event took place at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

"We would have crossed that bridge when we got there," Robert Whittaker smirked when asked whether he had contingencies in place in case things didn’t exactly go according to plan with Israel Adesanya.

Robert Whittaker returns from one of the most devastating losses of his career when he steps in the Octagon this weekend at UFC Abu Dhabi. 'The Reaper' was once ontop of the world, holding the middleweight championship and defending it against Yoel Romero.