Dr. David Abbasi breaks down Robert Whittaker's brutal jaw fracture from Khamzat Chimaev's face crank: "Those teeth are basically floating"
Robert Whittaker suffered a brutal jaw fracture during his UFC 308 co-event against Khamzat Chimaev, an injury sports surgeon Dr. David Abbasi believes will require surgical fixation.
During the opening round of the fight at the Etihad Arena, 'Borz' took his opponent's back and connected with some powerful shots to set up a face crank. Surprising many, Whittaker tapped as soon as the Chechen-born fighter sank in the choke.
In a post on X following the fight, Dr. Abbasi gave his analysis, explaining why the injury necessitated the quick tap.
Referencing a photo of 'The Reaper's' broken jaw that Daniel Cormier shared in the aftermath of the loss, the surgeon stated that the former middleweight champion had suffered two fractures on his mandible from the choke, causing three of his bottom teeth to float backward.
Check out the Robert Whittaker's jaw injury here.
Giving his analysis on treatment and recovery from the condition, Dr. Abbasi said:
"You can see those teeth are basically floating back there... You can see the forearms there below, basically cracking and destroying that jaw backwards. This is an unstable mandible fracture, which will require fixation with plates and screws where they'll make an incision... peel back that lip, and then realign the bones, and fix it with plates and screws."
Check out Dr. David Abbasi's analysis of Robert Whittaker's injury below:
During the post-fight press conference, Chimaev stated that he suspected he had broken his opponent's jaw during the fight:
"I felt something was wrong with his chin when I pushed it, feel bad for that. I didn't mean to break somebody's chin... Yeah, when I pushed it I felt some clicks."
Check out Khamzat Chimaev's comments on breaking Robert Whittaker's jaw below:
With the win at UFC 308, 'Borz' will take up the No.3 spot on the middleweight rankings. While Sean Strickland seems to be next in line for the title, Chimaev might be the favorite to fight the winner of the American's expected title fight with Dricus du Plessis.