Top UFC middleweight contender Reinier De Ridder has a minor criticism of the dominant performance from Khamzat Chimaev over former champion Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 319. While the Dutch former ONE MMA champion had high praise for the dominant display from Chimaev, he did have one criticism for the champion Chechen.
“One criticism of what Khamzat did was he didn’t seem to take a lot of chances. He did get trapped in that crucifix. Credit to Dricus, he dug his head in the shoulder, so he couldn’t really get range. But if there was one criticism, it’s that Hamza for as much control as he had, he didn’t take more chances. He controlled more than punished or tried to go for a lot of submissions. I do understand that he didn’t want to take too much risk, but I would have liked to see him try a bit more with the ground and pound, but what the ref did was totally wrong. Mark Gard set standing them up. That was very bad. I don’t think that was a good plan at all because Hamza was in control. He was sending down punches, he was trying. I don’t think there should ever be standups. I’m like, that’s part of the sport. Like get up. It wasn’t like Khamzat wasn’t doing what he’s doing just because Dricus couldn’t get up. It was weird. I didn’t understand those standups.”
Reinier De Ridder has one more test before his showdown with Chimaev.
However, before Reinier De Ridder can have a shot at the champion, he must first get past the scrappy dark horse of the division, Anthony Hernandez. He has been on an astronomical rise as the highest work rate fighter in the entire middleweight division. He just put a beatdown on Roman Dolidze, now both have an opportunity to make their claim to number one contender, as they both look to earn a shot at the new king of the middleweight division.
