ROBERT WHITTAKER has detailed the aftermath of the horror injury inflicted on him by Khamzat Chimaev, which led to him getting new teeth.
The former middleweight champion and fan favourite locked horns with the Russian wrecking machine last October at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi.
Former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker locked horns with Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 308 last November[/caption]
Whittaker suffered a crushing first-round submission defeat to the Chechen clubber[/caption]
Chimaev’s face crank pushed back three of Whittaker’s lower teeth and left him a bloody mess[/caption]
Whittaker was, on paper, set to be the toughest test of the undefeated Chimaev’s stop-start career, with many believing he’d be the man to put the Chechen clubber through the gauntlet.
The opposite ended up happening, with Chimaev mauling and submitting him with a nasty face crank in just over three minutes.
The Aussie immediately tapped to the submission, which had a devastating effect on his bottom row of teeth.
The force of Chimaev’s crank PUSHED IN Whittaker’s gnashers, which have troubled over the years, and left his mouth a bloody mess.
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[/caption]
“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.
“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 Ticketmaster.
