Reinier De Ridder is on an impressive run in the UFC since joining the promotion in 2024, and he has a title shot in his sights.
This coming Saturday, the UFC returns to the Middle East for UFC Abu Dhabi, headlined by a middleweight contender fight between former champion Robert Whittaker and Reinier De Ridder.
Whittaker is hoping to bounce back from a brutal loss to Khamzat Chimaev last time out, whereas De Ridder on the other hand is looking to extend his win streak to four in a row.
In his last outing, the Dutch fighter pulled off a big upset win against the surging Bo Nickal, handing him his first ever professional loss.
De Ridder is hoping that Chimaev pulls out of UFC 319 title fight
With a win over ‘The Reaper’ at UFC Abu Dhabi, ‘RDR’ could well secure himself a shot at the UFC middleweight title.
And fortunately for the former ONE Championship champion, his timeline will likely match up with either Khamzat Chimaev‘s or Dricus Du Plessis‘.
Just a few weeks after De Ridder’s fight against Whittaker, Du Plessis is scheduled to defend his title against Chimaev in a highly anticipated 185lb fight at UFC 319.
However, ahead of Chimaev’s first UFC title fight, De Ridder has admitted that he is hoping that the Chechen pulls out from the fight, leaving him with an opportunity to step up on short notice.
Throughout his tenure in the promotion, Chimaev hasn’t been the most reliable fighter and despite being insanely active during the start of his UFC career, he has struggled to keep up the momentum.
“I’m still hoping Khamzat pulls out last minute. It’s two weeks after my fight so maybe we can still get lucky,” De Ridder told Submission Radio.
“Maybe not too nice to make weight again but we can discuss the terms after,” he continued.
De Ridder predicts UFC 319 main event
Although the Dutch fighter is hoping that Chimaev will pull out, he has offered his prediction ahead of the scheduled fight, admitting that he is leaning towards ‘Stillknocks’.
“I’m still leaning towards Dricus because of the experience I have with training with both the guys, I just don’t see Khamzat finishing him early and I see Dricus building in the third, fourth and fifth round and I see him edging it out but we’ll see, hopefully it never happens and I can jump in,” De Ridder said.
De Ridder is widely regarded as a ‘dark horse’ in the middleweight division and one of his former foes has claimed that only Chimaev can stop his rise to becoming UFC champion.