In a shocking turn of events, former champion Robert Whittaker tapped to Khamzat Chimaev in the very first round of their UFC 308 middleweight co-main event clash. While the fight started with Chimaev taking ‘The Reaper’ down and dominating him there, that was to be expected given how the Chechnya native fights.

But fans were left shocked when three and a half minutes into the first round, ‘Borz’ secured a face crank on the former champion. But instead of trying to fight it off, Whittaker tapped almost as soon as Chimaev secured that choke, puzzling fans. But now we know why. It turns out that the Aussie dislocated his jaw because of the pressure Chimaev put on it, Whittaker told his corner as soon as the fight was over, which was leaked shortly after.

But that wasn’t the first time fans knew something was wrong with Whittaker after the fight was over. The commentary team had speculated that something wasn’t in place. And the full extent of the damage, revealed as a grisly picture of Whittaker’s jaw, which is sure to give fans nightmares, was shared by Daniel Cormier.

The image showed that Robert Whittaker had not just reportedly sustained an injury to his jaw, but also had three of his lower front teeth pushed back. They were not just smashed back but were almost perpendicular to the rest of his teeth, which thankfully didn’t seem to be affected. And while it is a sad day for the legendary ‘Bobby Knuckles,’ who meekly (but perhaps justifiably given the injury) went out against Chimaev in the very first round. And with this, ‘Borz’ seems one step away from the middleweight crown.

Khamzat Chimaev at the top of the title ladder as Robert Whittaker looks to climb back up

If Khamzat Chimaev was healthy, he would already have fought for the middleweight title. After all, the UAE-based fighter was the official #1 title contender after defeating Kamaru Usman at UFC 294 on last year’s Abu Dhabi PPV card. But a hand injury forced him to turn down a title shot at then-champion Sean Strickland in January this year.

But now, with his fantastic victory over Whittaker, it seems more than likely that Chimaev’s next fight will be for the title. But only after Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis (who had stepped in for Chimaev and won the title in January) run back their incredibly close UFC 297 clash sometime next year.

And whoever wins that fight will almost definitely meet Chimaev in the octagon. On the other hand, Whittaker will have to put in the hard yards and try to make his way up to a title shot all over again. Although given that his loss could be ascribed to an injury, the fans, and most importantly the UFC may look kindly upon Whittaker’s loss and make sure his way to the top isn’t that long and rocky. What do you think about Robert Whittaker’s devastating loss to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 308?