Reinier de Ridder is preparing for his fourth fight in the UFC, but he’s hoping that his fifth comes along with a chance at becoming middleweight champion.
Following a blistering knockout over highly touted prospect Bo Nickal back in May, the former two-division champion from ONE Championship wasted no time booking his next fight against Robert Whittaker in the main event at UFC Abu Dhabi on Saturday. While the quick turnaround was unexpected, de Ridder was happy to accept because he knows what a win over a former champion like Whittaker can do for his career.
“He’s still there. That’s the most special thing, I think,” de Ridder said about Whittaker when speaking to MMA Fighting. “He won it all, lost it all but he’s still grinding. He’s still putting it all out there. The last one was unfortunately against Khamzat [Chimaev], but I think the injury that he had going into it had something to do with it. Because that choke wasn’t a real choke. It wasn’t in the right position at all.
“But right before that in the Ikram [Aliskerov] fight, he proved that he’s still belongs. He still has knockout power. He’s still very dangerous, and he can still hang with the best guys. So I think it’s a big challenge and I’m very, very happy that they gave it to me again.”
The middleweight division is featured in three of the biggest fights over the next two months and it all kicks off with de Ridder’s main event with Whittaker.
Just two weeks later, reigning 185-pound champion Dricus du Plessis puts his title on the line against Khamzat Chimaev in a highly anticipated matchup at UFC 319. Then in September, Nassourdine Imavov looks to build on his knockout over Israel Adesanya when he faces Caio Borralho in another key middleweight fight.
Of course, de Ridder recognizes that he’s in a good position because the only fighters to beat Whittaker in the past decade have gone onto either win championships or immediately fight for the title. Winning matters most but de Ridder knows style counts so just getting a win over Whittaker might not be enough to secure the next spot in line for a title shot of his own.
“If I can do it well, and do it spectacularly, I think I have something to say about the title as well,” de Ridder said about his fight. “I think I can strike with him. I think I can wrestle with him and I think I can definitely choke him out.
“The most important thing is that I play my game. I put the pressure on him. I get close to him and that I don’t give him too much space to do what he does best.”
He can only control his own destiny and de Ridder really can’t think too much about Imavov vs. Borralho, but he knows the odds are on his side as far as making a bigger impact in his fight.
Through three performances thus far in the UFC, de Ridder has delivered two submissions and a knockout while Borralho has gone to decision in five of his seven wins in the promotion. Imavov has a much better finishing rate with an 8-2 record with one no-contest in the UFC and half his wins have come by knockout.
In a perfect world, de Ridder would put Whittaker away before the final horn and then Imavov and Borralho go to a lackluster decision, which then makes the UFC’s job that much easier when selecting the next title challenger.
“I think for both of the contender fights, mine and then Borralho and Imavov’s [fight], the same thing goes,” de Ridder explained. “A win is not enough. If one of them just wins a boring decision and that’s awesome and I think I’ll have a chance to fight for the title.
“The most important thing is I finish Robert and I finish him spectacularly, I think then I have something to say and I can pray that the fight in Paris is boring and nobody likes it.”
Nothing can be decided until he wins but de Ridder definitely has his sights set on beating Whittaker and then flying to Chicago to sit cageside for du Plessis vs. Chimaev.
Actually, de Ridder says he’ll stay ready after the Whittaker fight just in case du Plessis needs an opponent given Chimaev’s history where illness or injury has forced him out of fights on multiple occasions during his UFC career. Obviously, de Ridder isn’t rooting for Chimaev’s demise by any means but he also knows it’s not a bad idea to stay prepared just in case he’s needed.
“Let me do it right first but I think if I can do well, and I can finish him spectacularly, I think I have something to say about the title,” de Ridder said. “Or maybe Khamzat pulls out last minute and that would be even better.
“We’ll see. It’s not going to be a lot of work because it’s only two weeks later. But yeah, I think so [I’ll stay ready just in case].”
Assuming the UFC 319 main event happens as scheduled, de Ridder previously stated that he believed du Plessis would successfully defend his title after he spent time training with both him and Chimaev in the past. Nothing much has changed his opinion, although truth be told he doesn’t really care who wins so long as he gets his chance to fight for the title.
“My mind hasn’t really changed on it, but we’ll see,” de Ridder said. “It all depends on how they come in. If Khamzat can get him down early, I know Dricus is in trouble, but I just don’t see him choking Dricus out like early, early. We’ll see. It’s an interesting one.”
