Costa (15-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) criticized De Ridder's split decision win over Robert Whittaker in Saturday's UFC on ABC 9 headliner in Abu Dhabi, where he survived a knockdown in Round 3 to win the fight. "With all due respect, I would knock out de Ridder 3 x wich round. All that said congrats for your win today, despite bad fight."

De Ridder's Abu Dhabi victory was as close as it gets. Roughly half of all fans and media members scored it for Whittaker. Regardless, the result is in, and 'RDR' is a new challenger in the 185-pound division. This means accepting trash talk from his contemporaries.

This past Saturday in the main event of UFC Abu Dhabi, we saw a big time matchup in the middleweight division. Former champion Robert Whittaker (26-9) was taking on the surging top contender and former ONE champion Reinier De Ridder (21-2).