Robert Whittaker opened up on the extent of the damage he suffered in his loss to Khamzat Chimaev.
Whittaker (26-8 MMA, 17-6 UFC) was submitted by Chimaev in the first round of their middleweight bout at UFC 308. As soon as Chimaev secured a face crank on Whittaker, the former champion immediately tapped. Whittaker’s quick reaction was due to getting his bottom teeth moved out of place, an injury which required dental surgery.
“Well, I’ve always kind of had bad bottom teeth, because I’ve had missing teeth (at the top) for like 10 years plus,” Whittaker said on his “MMArcade Podcast”. “So, they’ve always kind of been shot because they’re not stable. They’re not a full circuit. They’re like half. Over the years, trauma, whatever, it’s something that kind of needed to be addressed.
“But every dentist and their friend were saying always try and keep your real teeth. I should’ve gotten rid of them years ago. The Dricus (Du Plessis) fight, they got pushed in a little bit. I had a cast in there, let them settle, yada yada yada, move on. Then when I fought Ikram (Aliskerov), I had all the infections, had to get four root canals, and I think the teeth had just had it, mate.”
Upon undergoing surgery, Whittaker said doctors discovered something that likely played a big factor in all the dental problems he’s had over the years.
“I haven’t been able to bite down on an apple since I was 19,” Whittaker said. “They (teeth) have always been bad, and I should’ve dealt with them much sooner. 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. So, everything happens for a reason.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 308.
