Reinier de Ridder earned the biggest win of his UFC career to date on May 3 by derailing the undefeated streak of Bo Nickal.
Though ‘The Dutch Knight’ is best known for his submission skills, it was his striking that saw de Ridder hand Nickal his first loss in Des Moines.
The victory takes the former ONE Championship star to three wins in a row inside the Octagon since he debuted with the promotion last November.
Having finished all three of his opponents, he’s now looking to face one of the top names in the middleweight division with de Ridder calling out Sean Strickland.
As for the American, he’s found out what a former opponent of the Dutchman already knew with Nickal being accused of quitting after he was stopped in the second round.
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Kevin Holland reflects on Reinier de Ridder’s upset win over Bo Nickal at UFC Des Moines
Having been frustrated during his time in ONE Championship, Reinier de Ridder is making up for his lack of activity in recent years by immediately making a big impression inside the Octagon.
There were a lot of questions as to how well he’d be able to compete in the UFC’s 185-pound division but a former opponent of his didn’t have doubts after he shared the cage with ‘RDR’.
In his second outing at UFC 311, de Ridder recorded back-to-back submission wins after he quickly took Kevin Holland down and finished him inside the first round.
With the vast majority of his wins coming via this method, many felt like he could threaten Bo Nickal if the fight hit the floor but this didn’t end up playing a major factor.
Holland weighed in on social media as his former opponent produced one of the biggest wins possible in the middleweight division.
‘Trailblazer’ reminded fans that he’d already spoken about how big and physically strong de Ridder is before he went and put Nickal away in style.
“Told yall he was silver back gorilla…. And let’s not forget Bo is a beast”
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Reinier de Ridder wants to test himself against America’s top striker
Following his win over a decorated wrestler in Bo Nickal, Reinier de Ridder said that he now wants to face the top American striker in the division, Sean Strickland.
There’s certainly no denying that if the recent arrival was to beat the former champion, he’d have a one-way ticket to a title fight.
The one issue might be that there’s a big gap between them in the UFC rankings but as de Ridder said ahead of the fight, beating an unranked Nickal was always going to elevate his stock significantly.
Two other former middleweight champions in Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker could be two more options and though de Ridder might be aiming higher, a matchup with the #9-ranked Anthony Hernandez would be a lot of fun.