Reinier de Ridder Establishes Himself as Title Contender in the UFC
Reinier de Ridder, a prominent middleweight fighter, solidified his position as a legitimate title contender this Saturday. His victory came at the expense of the renowned Robert Whittaker, a fan favorite. De Ridder (21-2) achieved his fourth victory in the UFC, and the third this year, by defeating Whittaker by split decision at the UFC Fight Night held in Abu Dhabi. Two of the three judges scored the 185-pound fight 48-47 in favor of De Ridder, while the third judge gave Whittaker a 48-47 score.Despite the close official scores, De Ridder outperformed Whittaker in almost all statistics. According to UFC data, De Ridder landed 169 total strikes, compared to Whittaker’s 100. In addition, he was credited with more than nine minutes of control time, either against the fence or on the ground. In the second round, he hurt Whittaker with knee strikes, causing him to bleed from the mouth and nose midway through the fight. Whittaker’s best moment came in the first minute of the third round, when he knocked De Ridder down with a counter right hand. He connected a perfect right hand to De Ridder’s chin, and almost finished him with ground strikes immediately after. However, De Ridder managed to survive the attack and won the last two rounds. De Ridder is known for his grappling ability, with 14 of his 21 professional victories achieved by submission. He attempted takedowns at various points in the fight, but Whittaker defended well 13 of 15 attempts. Ultimately, it was De Ridder’s pressure and volume that broke Whittaker, more than his grappling skills. This has been a standout year for De Ridder, originally from the Netherlands but trained at Kill Cliff FC in Florida. In January, he submitted Kevin Holland, and in May he knocked out the promising Bo Nickal, securing his first UFC main event. For Whittaker, 34, it’s the first time he’s lost consecutive fights since 2013. He lost by submission to Khamzat Chimaev in October. Immediately after the fight, De Ridder requested a title opportunity against the winner of next month’s fight between Dricus Du Plessis and Chimaev at UFC 319. De Ridder entered Saturday’s fight ranked number 13 in the division. Whittaker was ranked number 5.I was hoping to take him to the ground and submit him.
Reinier de Ridder
I don’t want to fight anyone like this man again. It was too hard. I want to finish someone in the first round, so maybe it’s better if I fight Khamzat or Dricus. Give me my title shot.
Reinier de Ridder
