Robert Whittaker has pledged to soldier on after his narrow decision loss to Reiner de Ridder at last weekend’s UFC event in Abu Dhabi.

The Australian former middleweight champion, 34, suffered his second consecutive defeat at the hands of the surging Dutch contender in the UAE capital, coming up short on the scorecards despite nearly finishing his opponent with a flush overhand which connected early in the contest. De Ridder, though, rallied and had Whittaker in trouble on several occasions with knee shots to the body; the same technique which brought him victory over Bo Nickal back in May.

Whittaker now faces an arduous path back to title contention following his two losses in a row, as well as his record also showing defeats to both men in the upcoming 185-pound world title fight: champion Dricus du Plessis and challenger Khamzat Chimaev.

And in a message posted online, Whittaker addressed his fans and said that he intends to keep the grind going.

“I’m disappointed, but I’m not disheartened,” Whittaker said, as noted by Sports Illustrated.

“There were a lot of things I liked about the fight and a lot of things I didn’t. But I’m gonna take it all and head back to the gym and sit with the team, pick it apart and get back on the horse. That’s all you can do.

“Congratulations to de Ridder. I’m gonna learn from this experience and move forward. This isn’t the end of Robert Whittaker, this is just another learning curve, another speed bump. I’m gonna rest and recover a little bit, and hopefully get back on an Australian card.”

The UFC is returning to Perth in late September for what will be the organisation’s fourth visit to the Western Australian capital.

De Ridder, meanwhile, is well placed to put his hand up for title consideration once the dust settles between Du Plessis and Chimaev in the UFC 319 main event on August 16.