The teeth were long at 185 pounds in Robert Whittaker's championship heyday, and "Bobby Knuckles" was the young gun coming for blood. But these days? It’s his blood they're coming for.

After Whittaker beat Yoel Romero to become interim champion and was later elevated to undisputed king when Georges St-Pierre vacated the throne, ‘The Reaper’ hoped to continue his charge toward greatness. At 185 pounds, the next step was a unification fight against Adesanya. Beyond that, though, the Australian had eyes on another piece of UFC gold.

Robert Whittaker had his bottom teeth dislodged in defeat by Khamzat Chimaev in October but is set to return to action against Reinier de Ridder in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

Robert Whittaker will walk into Abu Dhabi's Etihad Arena and fight 'The Dutch Knight'. It's the same venue where he last fel

The Australian isn't ready to sail off into the sunset just yet, insisting the walk to the Octagon still gets the blood pumping.