Former undisputed middleweight champion, Robert Whittaker was left with a slew of fractured teeth as well as a suspected dislocated jaw off the back of his first round loss to the unbeaten, Khamzat Chimaev tonight in the co-main event of UFC 308.
Whittaker, who entered tonight’s UFC 308 co-headliner with the surging Chimaev off the back of an impressive pair of victories over former title challenger, Paulo Costa, and a June knockout of Ikram Aliskerov, saw his own winning spree halted in brutal fashion.
Taken down to the canvas on cue from the undefeated Chechen grappling talent, Whittaker fought valiantly to avoid a submission, however, was eventually forced to tap from a nasty face crank from the unbeaten, Chimaev — who racked up his fourteenth professional victory to boot.
Robert Whittaker suffers gruesome mouth injury in UFC 308 submission loss
Revealing in the immediate aftermath of his loss to the Chechen how he heard something “crack” in his mouth upon the application of the face crank, photo footage has emerged of Robert Whittaker’s injuries following the loss, suffering at least three fractured teeth and what appears to be a dislocated lower jaw.
Khamzat Chimaev broke his (Robert Whittaker) tooth,” Daniel Cormier said about the above photo. “Literally dislocated his jaw in a matter of two seconds. It was unbelievable.”
Staking his claim for a shot at the undisputed middleweight crown in the immediate aftermath of his submission of former champion, Whittaker, unbeaten finisher, Chimaev has now positioned himself to take on the undisputed gold holder, Dricus du Plessis — ahead of another former gold holder, Sean Strickland.
With tonight’s submission over Whittaker, Chimaev adds the Auckland-born favorite to a run of impressive victories over the likes of former champion and pound-for-pound number one, Kamaru Usman, as well as former title challenger, Gilbert Burns, and Kevin Holland and Li Jingliang.