Reinier de Ridder has hit the ground running since arriving in the UFC where he has quickly climbed the middleweight ladder.
The former two-weight titleholder in ONE Championship made his Octagon debut last November and he’s already accumulated three victories and finishes.
De Ridder’s upset win over Bo Nickal in Des Moines took his stock to new heights with the submission specialist stopping the undefeated prospect on the feet.
As a result, he’s now earned his first main event opportunity against a former champion with de Ridder facing Robert Whittaker in Abu Dhabi on July 26.
With a pro record of 20-2, both of his previous losses came to the same man who recently shared some thoughts on the UFC run of ‘RDR’.
Anatoly Malykhin says Reinier de Ridder is a top three UFC middleweight with Khamzat Chimaev presenting the only risk
Anatoly Malykhin isn’t surprised to see his former opponent, Reinier de Ridder, achieve great things in the UFC after leaving ONE Championship last year.
‘RDR’ lost his ONE middleweight and light heavyweight titles in back-to-back defeats to the Russian, who went on to make history by becoming a three-weight champion.
Malykhin, who is the larger man having achieved success at heavyweight, stopped de Ridder on both occasions in the Dutchman’s final fights before signing to the UFC.
‘Sladkiy’ has a lot of respect for his former opponent, telling Bloody Elbow in an exclusive interview that de Ridder is a brave fighter who pushed him to another level.
With that in mind, he believes that middleweight title challenger Khamzat Chimaev is the only name in the UFC’s 185 pound division who will be able to beat him inside the Octagon.
“In the UFC, Bo Nickal is not a guy on his level. Reinier had two belts at 102 (roughly 225 pounds) and 92 kilos (roughly 203 pounds). If now he is cutting weight to 86 (roughly 190 pounds), he will be a huge threat in his division.
“If somebody’s underestimating de Ridder now, they should stop immediately. In my opinion, he’s in the top three in his weight class. The only opposition I see for him realistically who can stop him is Khamzat Chimaev.
“I don’t think that anybody else can stop him. He is a fighter of a really high calibre.”
Anatoly Malykhin predicts that Reinier de Ridder will submit Robert Whittaker in Abu Dhabi
In less than a year of being with the promotion, Reinier de Ridder could put himself into the middleweight title picture with a win on July 26.
Robert Whittaker has only ever been beaten by the very best in the world at 185 pounds but his last outing was a particularly devastating loss.
‘The Reaper’ was submitted by Khamzat Chimaev in the first round at UFC 308 with a face crank forcing him to instantly tap after he suffered significant injuries to his jaw.
Anatoly Malykhin believes that de Ridder will be able to go out there and do a similar thing to the former middleweight champion.
“Whittaker is an elite fighter so it’s an interesting opponent for de Ridder but Khamzat broke him both mentally and physically. So, I do think it’s the best time for this fight right now and I think that the fight will be similar to Khamzat versus Whittaker and that probably, de Ridder will win by submission.”