UFC middleweight contender, Reinier de Ridder, is one of the busiest fighters on the promotion’s roster, competing four times across the last eight months and racking up four straight wins in the process. That includes his hard-fought victory over former champion Robert Whittaker at UFC Abu Dhabi last month on “Fight Island.”
Sounds like “The Dutch Knight” is ready for a vacation.
“Every time since I joined the UFC, I had a fight lined up three days after the last fight,” de Ridder (21-2) told MMA Fighting. “But I don’t think it’s going to be like that this time. It will take a couple of weeks, I want to see at least the Khamzat-Dricus fight first and then we’ll see what happens. We’ll see. I think that’s smart to hold back for a little bit.”
Dricus Du Plessis will defend his middleweight title against Khamzat Chimaev atop the UFC 319 pay-per-view (PPV) card later this month in Chicago, with de Ridder (and the winner of this fight) being considered for the next crack at the 185-pound crown. Until then, former middleweight title challenger, Paulo Costa, wants to play spoiler.
Costa (15-4) returned to the win column by defeating Roman Kopylov at UFC 318.
“He really, really wants that fight I think,” de Ridder explained. “He really wants to set something up. Keep trying. Keep trying, Paulo. You’ll get there. He would be a fun buildup, would be very fun in the press conference and everything with Paulo because he’s a character. But right now I don’t think he’s there.”
De Ridder is ranked seven spots above Costa in the official middleweight rankings.
