UFC great Robert Whittaker has suffered a split decision defeat to Reinier de Ridder in the headline fight in Abu Dhabi.

Australian Whittaker (26-9 MMA, 17-7 UFC) came up short in two of the three judges’ eyes, who scored the 185-pound (83.9kg) middleweight bout 48-47 for de Ridder, while a third had it 48-47 for Whittaker on Saturday.

De Ridder landed 169 total strikes, compared to 100 for Whittaker, and he was also credited with just over nine minutes of control time.

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He hurt the Aussie with knees in the second round and bloodied his mouth and nose midway through.

Whittaker’s best moment came early in the third when he dropped de Ridder with a counter right hand to the chin, and nearly finished him off with strikes on the ground immediately after.

De Ridder managed to survive the onslaught to go on to win the final two rounds.

Ultimately, it was de Ridder’s pressure and volume that Whittaker succumbed to, more than his grappling pedigree.

Whittaker, 34, admitted he was “pretty butt-hurt” by the loss.

“He did what he said he was going to do,” he said.

“I thought I ticked all the boxes, but the pressure was a lot.

“He has a lot of pressure, a lot of skill sets. I’ve mentioned it before, he’s got a particular way of fighting.

“I couldn’t really throw too many spanners in the works. He got it off more times than not and walked away a winner, good on him.”

De Ridder entered the bout ranked 13th in the division, eight spots behind Whittaker.

And the Dutchman had high praise for the Australian after the hard-fought battle.

“I don’t want to fight anyone like this man again,” de Ridder said.

“He was too tough. I want to finish a guy in the first round, so maybe it would be better if I fought Khamzat (Chimaev) or Dricus (Du Plessis). Give me my title shot.”

De Ridder (21-2), who trains in Florida, earned his fourth UFC victory — and third this year.

He submitted Kevin Holland in January, and then knocked out top prospect Bo Nickal in May to earn his first UFC main event. For the 34-year-old Whittaker, it marks the first time he’s lost back-to-back fights since 2013.

“I expected to take him (Whittaker) down and choke him out,” de Ridder added.

“He was amazing. So tough, so durable, heavy f***ing hands.”