UFC bogeyman flattened Robert Whittaker’s teeth with savage choke

Khamzat Chimaev did Whittaker a favor by flattening his teeth

Whittaker was expected to be the toughest test to date for Chimaev, who remains the best one-round fighter the promotion has ever seen.

The Aussie's takedown defense, gas tank, and five round experience spelled all sorts of trouble for the Chechen wolf, who showed signs of fatigue in past performances. Chimaev would eliminate the use for extra rounds by finding Whittaker's back early and applying a face crank that forced the tap.

Fans were confused with the finish as Whittaker tapped uncharacteristically quick, but as they'd find out by Daniel Cormier leaking post-fight photos after the event, he had every right to finish the fight. Chimaev's crank had completely flattened Whittaker's bottom row of teeth.

Following the loss, Whittaker revealed he'd always had issues with those teeth, and while getting them removed, doctor's found a 'massive' cyst in his jaw.

"They've [my bottom teeth] always been crap, like, I haven't been able to bite down on an apple since I was 19," Whittaker revealed on the MMArcade Podcast. " ... They're just gone, don't need them, my life is better without them... Fun fact though, when they took them out they found a massive cyst in my jaw, and they think that might have been where the infections were coming from for the teeth."

Taking the appropriate time off, Whittaker now fights Reinier de Ridder this weekend in the main event of UFC Abu Dhabi. 'RDR' is a another submission threat, but he poses an even bigger challenge, that of Whittaker maintaining relevance in the UFC middleweight title picture.