‘The Dutch Knight’ rides again: Former ONE champion Reinier de Ridder scored an impressive third-round submission win over veteran Gerald Meerschaert in the co-main event of UFC Vegas 100 last night.
Yet already at 34 years of age, ‘The Dutch Knight’ certainly doesn’t have the time to sit around and slowly climb the UFC middleweight rankings like many other promotional newcomers; he wants to go straight to the top, straight away.
UFC newcomer Reinier de Ridder submits GM3 in impressive promotional debut
Dutch debutant Reinier de Ridder made a statement as he finished fellow submission specialist Gerald Meerschaert in the chief supporting act of what was a highly entertaining UFC Vegas 100 card.
Not only did de Ridder score the finish via a patented arm triangle in the third, but he out-worked ‘GM3’ across the board with significant strikes, takedowns, and control time all in favor of ‘The Dutch Knight’.
Whilst the vast majority of UFC newcomers would prefer to slowly work their way up through the rankings of an insanely tough middleweight division, de Ridder has a different path in mind.
De Ridder is open to facing Khamzat Chimaev after already training with Strickland
Speaking with Michael Bisping after getting his hand raised, Reinier de Ridder acknowledged that he wouldn’t say no to a short-notice turnaround for UFC 309, which takes place in just one week’s time out in New York.
“I don’t know, can you talk to the brass [for me] maybe, because New York is on the way home so if you guys need me at Madison Square Garden next week, give me a call in a couple of hours because after that I might be a little drunk.”
At the post-fight press conference, de Ridder would double down on his commitment to a potential seven-day turnaround: “Yeah, if they have somebody for me then I’m down for it.”
Yet not many fans would have predicted the next callout from the Dutch submission specialist.
Not only did de Ridder claim that he might have otherwise called out Sean Strickland if they hadn’t recently trained together, but that he’d be open to fighting undefeated phenom Khamzat Chimaev.
“Yeah, I was just training with [Sean] Strickland over the last couple of weeks so it wouldn’t be as nice to call him out I guess, but why not Khamzat [Chimaev] – that would be a nice matchup grappling-wise, that would be cool.”
The promotion is expected to return to Europe in early 2025, with the rumor being that UFC London will be booked for March – de Ridder stated that whilst he’d love to fight on his home continent, he’s willing to accept any offer that comes his way.
“Look, I’m already so thankful for you guys so whatever the UFC wants of me, I’ll do it. Just give me a call, I’m ready.”
Reinier de Ridder is now 18-2 as a professional, with 13 of those wins coming via submission.