Ever since failing to reclaim the middleweight title in 2022, things have been inconsistent for Robert Whittaker. Ahead of his UFC 318 fight against Reinier de Ridder, the former champion revealed that fighting Khamzat Chimaev and losing to the Chechen-born was an eye-opener for him. Whittaker claims that the undefeated star made him realize what he fears the most, and it’s certainly not losing a fight.

To recall what happened, people had been skeptical about Khamzat Chimaev and his ability to dominate in the middleweight division after a narrow win over Kamaru Usman. The former welterweight champion accepted that fight on short notice and competed in a weight class where he had never competed. However, Chimaev silenced his doubters after shutting down Robert Whittaker in the first round by choking ‘The Reaper’ out and even broke the Aussie star’s jaw, for which Whittaker was hospitalized.

Obviously, the loss was a stinger for Robert Whittaker, but the loss isn’t the scariest thing for the former middleweight champion. He thinks that not being able to exhibit the talents that he had worked on in the fight camp was the biggest setback for him against Khamzat Chimaev. Whittaker believes that his inability to show up and show out hurts his coaches, who also put in the same amount of time as he does in training.

“Certainly, [I was frustrated]. I think every fighter can attest to this that losing sucks all around. It’s very disheartening,” Robert Whittaker told FOX Sports Australia. “I guess that’s my biggest fear. It’s not really the L or the result or the number. It’s not being able to give a good account of myself, not being able to do the things that I’ve practiced and sweated and bled for, for 12 weeks.”

“Letting my coaches down because they’re in the gym as much as I am. working with me with these different skill sets… That, honestly, is the most disheartening thing and I guess the thing that sucks the most,” Robert Whittaker added.

Well, Robert Whittaker would like to show off his skills this time when he fights Reinier de Ridder in the cage. As we’ve already said, one of the best parts was when “The Reaper” fractured his jaw. Khamzat Chimaev would subsequently talk about it and say he didn’t mean to do it.

Khamzat Chimaev did mean to break Robert Whittaker’s jaw

Khamzat Chimaev is pretty relentless in the first few minutes of his fights, and in the same way, he got hold of Robert Whittaker in the first round of the UFC 308 encounter. After the victory, the Chechen-born star would open up about the jaw break, claiming that he was only looking for a choke. By the time he locked his submission in, he heard something break, but it wasn’t until the fight that Chimaev realized it was not Whittaker’s neck. However, Whittaker would later reveal that he already had issues with his jaw.

“Before I come in here they showed it to me, but I felt something was wrong with his chin when I pushed it. So I feel bad for that. I didn’t mean to break somebody’s chin, but it’s my work, to make somebody pain and make me happy, my family,” Chimaev stated. “I wasn’t trying to break his jaw in any way. It just happened that I went for a choke, and I heard something click. I thought I was taking his neck, but I guess I broke the jaw.”

Well, it would certainly be interesting how things go down in a rematch, as Robert Whittaker has plans to get another crack at UFC gold. He claims to have only four fights left on his UFC contract. So, maybe a couple of wins on the trot will do the trick, and who knows? Maybe we’ll get to see him fight Chimaev for the title. But Whittaker’s got to focus on the task at hand, which is beating Reinier de Ridder. The former ONE Championship star has made quite the impression since his debut in Dana White‘s promotion. Hence, we’ll have to wait and see how things pan out for Whittaker.