Morning Report: Robert Whittaker likely to need surgery, ‘jaw wired shut’ according to doctor
Robert Whittaker’s nasty submission loss at UFC 308 was just as devastating as it looked.
Khamzat Chimaev became the first UFC fighter to defeat Whittaker by submission on Saturday, locking in a terrifying face crank that had Whittaker quickly tapping out in the middleweight co-main event. It was immediately clear that something was wrong and later a photo was shown of Whittaker’s injuries, which appeared be to his jaw and teeth.
Dr. Brian Sutterer, a popular YouTuber who regularly discusses sports injuries on his channel, uploaded a video commenting on the grisly finish and speculated on the extent of the injuries.
“What you’re looking at is his lower row of tooth and these three teeth in the front are displaced into his mouth because his jaw is fractured,” Sutterer said of the photo. “So that’s not just that the teeth fell out. The teeth are actually still attached to that lower portion where they’re anchored into the jaw, but the jaw is broke in a way that’s caused his teeth to completely displace backwards into his mouth. It’s not like these teeth just fell out or were knocked out, no, the whole anchor site for those three teeth broke causing that teeth to displace posterior.”
As most would guess, Whittaker is likely to undergo a procedure to address the injury and should be out of action for the foreseeable future.
“Treatment of this is going to be some type of surgery to put those teeth, that bone back in place,” Sutterer said. “Plate potentially braces across the teeth. Real possibility here that Whittaker might end up having his jaw wired shut for some time, so this is a serious, serious injury.”
It was only the second time in Whittaker’s fighting career that he’d ever lost by submission, the first happening in his pre-UFC days in an October 2011 bout against Kim Hoon. Whittaker later won The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes tournament as a welterweight and eventually moved to 185 pounds where he became UFC champion in 2017.
Now, it’s Chimaev who seems destined to wear gold around his waist after making short work of Whittaker. Sutterer broke down the undefeated fighter’s incredible finish and why Whittaker had no choice but to signal his submission.
“Initially, it kind of looked like a choke, but actually Khamzat’s left arm is located on a part of Whittaker’s jaw called the mandible,” Sutterer said. “The lower portion of your jaw that moves up and down, that’s called the mandible. Your jaw joint then comes up from the mandible going up to insert at the temporomandibular joint and so the part that moves up and down, that’s the mandible, and your teeth on the lower portion of your mouth are fixed into that mandible.”
“Essentially, he just grabs on to Whittaker’s lower chin and cranks backward so severely that it doesn’t choke him out, it results in a break of his jaw. This wasn’t a jaw dislocation, there was some speculation about that after the fight. Based on a picture that we’re going to show here, this was just so powerful that Khamzat broke his jaw.”
Whittaker gave his own update on the injury in an interview with Red Corner MMA, saying it was only his teeth that were injured as a result of Khamzat’s face crank.
“It wasn’t the jaw, it was the teeth,” Whittaker said. “The teeth got pushed in. I’ve kind of always had loose teeth and they got looser. It was the face crank. His forearm went straight on the bottom tooth. I didn’t even have a moment to turn the head or anything. It was on. It is what it is. I had them pushed in before when I fought Dricus [du Plessis] as well and they’ve never really recovered. It was from an injury when I was young.”
TOP STORIES
Click. Khamzat Chimaev knew the moment he did something bad to Robert Whittaker’s face.
155. Is it time for Max Holloway to permanently move to lightweight?
Rematch? Ilia Topuria and Alexander Volkanovski appear to be on a collision course, one more time.
Reaper. Robert Whittaker releases a statement following his devastating loss.
Persevere. Rafael dos Anjos vows to come back after injuring his leg at UFC 308.
Personal. Dana White is still distinctly not a fan of Francis Ngannou.
VIDEO STEW
UFC 308 post-fight show.
On to the Next One.
Relive the magic.
Aftermath.
Pros react.
FLAVOR IN YOUR EAR
On to the Next One. MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee pick future matchups for Ilia Topuria, Khamzat Chimaev, Max Holloway, and the big winners of UFC 308.
SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE
Nothing but respect.
Sometimes you get an highlight then sometimes you’re the highlight. This is why mma is the craziest sport in the world. Congrats to the El Matador. As to my family, friends and supporters, we good! The Blessed Express ain’t stopping here. We on our way to a new destination. Make… pic.twitter.com/R0HpYdxSCI
— Max Holloway (@BlessedMMA) October 27, 2024
Lots of love for the featherweight king.
Excuse me?
It took 2,227 strikes over the course of 34 fights spanning 14 years to knockout Max Holloway for the first time.
— Tommy Toe Hold (@TommyToeHold) October 26, 2024
Practice makes perfect.
Shara Bullet was drilling his double spinning back fist KO on Open workouts, and no one gave it a lot of attention. pic.twitter.com/9ZmZUNJ0gh
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) October 27, 2024
Always ready.
Thanks to all the fans for their support. I arrived, I made weight, I was ready for anything. See you soon, maybe in ? Or ? We’ll see what happens in the next few days.
— Diego Lopes (@Diegolopesmma) October 27, 2024
thanks abu dhabi
Sinister.
— Khamzat Chimaev (@KChimaev) October 27, 2024
FINAL THOUGHTS
What can you say after a show like that?
Ilia Topuria doing the impossible and knocking out Max Holloway to prove that he’s maybe the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Khamzat Chimaev looking like he was in a different league from Robert Whittaker. “Shara Bullet” giving us the first double backfist KO in UFC history.
UFC 308 delivered in spades and there are still plenty of massive fights ahead to close out 2024.
Enjoy, MMA fans.
EXIT POLL
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