UFC star and middleweight contender Robert Whittaker returned to action at UFC 308 with hopes that he could take down undefeated Khamzat Chimaev, pushing himself into a chance to challenge current middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis. However, Chimaev was quick to take Whittaker down, submitting him in the first round of the fight.
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Chimaev was able to face crank Whittaker, leading to the eventual tap out. Following the fight, Whittaker revealed a horrific injury, in that his teeth were completely pushed back.
Even worse is that Whittaker revealed that he had to have some teeth removed, which also stemmed from previous fights in his career. Whittaker joined the "MMArcade Podcast" to talk about his teeth and the grueling discovery doctors made.
"Well, I've always kind of had bad bottom teeth, because I've had missing teeth (at the top) for like 10 years plus, so they've always kind of been shot because they're not stable, they're not a full circuit, they're like half," Whittaker stated.
"During the Dricus (Du Plessis) fight, they kind of got pushed in a little bit... And I had to address that, they had to be pushed back," the former champ continued.
Whittaker already had unstable teeth due to previous fights and had most removed due to damage sustained in his career. However, moments later, the UFC star revealed doctors discovered a massive cyst that was likely the cause of infections that led to his teeth being bad.
"They're gone, don't need them, my life is much 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 infections were coming from for the teeth, so everything happens for a reason," Whittaker added.
Though losing teeth in such a grisly manner was likely extremely painful, the removal of the teeth also led to Whittaker finding out that he had a cyst in his mouth. Doctors were able to remove that cyst and the middleweight contender is likely far better off without the cyst in his mouth.
Whittaker is now 2-2 in his last four fights. He is still ranked No. 4 in the middleweight division and is likely to face another top-ranked contender in his next fight, but it is believed that he will take some time off to heal from the mouth surgery he underwent.
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