July 26 sees the return of a surging UFC middleweight who has proven he can get the job done even when it’s not pretty.
In his toughest test in the UFC to date, Reinier de Ridder hopes to make a statement against Robert Whittaker when they face off in the main event of UFC Abu Dhabi.
It’s well known that ‘The Dutch Knight’ is an incredibly dangerous submission specialist once the fight hits the floor.
However, de Ridder’s win over Bo Nickal saw him implement his somewhat awkward striking style very effectively, even if it isn’t his strongest skillset.
A former training partner of de Ridder’s, who believes he can expose some of Whittaker’s flaws, also thinks that ‘RDR’ brings much more to the table than just his grappling abilities.
Robert Valentin praises the mind and mentality of Reinier de Ridder ahead of UFC Abu Dhabi
Robert Valentin knows Reinier de Ridder well having trained with the Dutchman back before he was signed to the UFC.
De Ridder’s fellow UFC middleweight, Valentin, recently spoke in an interview with Bloody Elbow about this matchup and how he sees it playing out.
There has been a lot of conversation since his arrival in the Octagon about the former ONE Championship star’s awkward style, with comparisons being made to the current 185-pound champion, Dricus du Plessis.
Valentin recognizes that as we have seen with ‘DDP’, just because de Ridder’s style isn’t always the most aesthetically pleasing, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t work.
He also believes that ‘RDR’ has a secret weapon due to his mental strength and the way that he approaches competition, with his hunger already being on display having booked four UFC fights in less than a year.
“On one hand, it’s an awkward style but what we learned throughout the years now is MMA can be ugly but still very effective. He’s not an entertaining striker, he has many holes in the striking game but the thing with ‘RDR’ is his mind is so strong. His will to win and compete. This guy is super tough, super tough.”
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Robert Valentin says he knew Reinier de Ridder would be a high-level UFC fighter years before he signed to the promotion
For fight fans that pay attention to promotions outside of the UFC, Reinier de Ridder has been making noise for many years during his time in ONE Championship.
It was during this period that Robert Valentin first trained with ‘The Dutch Knight’ and recognized what he was capable of achieving.
He claimed that from the moment they met, de Ridder was talking about facing the toughest tests out there and wanting to prove himself.
“He was already talking about, ‘I want to make that move to the UFC. I want to fight the best in the world’. He was unknown to many fans just because ONE Championship never made a big effort to promote him.
“I knew that this guy could be a champion and could give many great fighters in the UFC a hard time, just because of his style.”