Reinier de Ridder has been on an impressive run in the UFC since he came to the promotion in 2024, and he has a title shot in his sights.
The UFC returns to the middle -east for UFC Abu Dhabi the coming Saturday, headed by a middleweight competition between former champion Robert Whittaker and Reinier de Ridder.
Whittaker hopes to bounce back from a brutal loss to Khamzat Chimaev the previous time -out, while on the other hand De Ridder wants to expand his win racing to four in a row.
In his last outing, the Dutch hunter gave a big upset victory against the rising Bo Nickal and gave him his very first professional loss ever.
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC
De Ridder hopes that Chimaev will withdraw from UFC 319 Title fight
With a victory over 'The Reaper' at UFC Abu Dhabi, 'RDR' could protect himself an opportunity on the UFC Middleweight title.
And luckily for the former championship champion, his timeline will probably match Khamzat Chimaev's or Dricus Du Persis'.
Just a few weeks after the Ridder's fight against Whittaker, Du Plessis is planned to defend his title against Chimaev in a long -awaited fight of 185 pounds on UFC 319.
However, prior to the first UFC title fight by Chimaev, De Ridder admitted that he hopes that the Chetsjen will withdraw the fight, giving him the opportunity to step in the short term.
During his term of office in the promotion, Chimaev was not the most reliable hunter and despite the fact that he was incredibly active during the start of his UFC career, he has difficulty keeping the momentum.
“I still hope that Khamzat will pull at the last minute. It is two weeks after my fight, so maybe we can still be lucky,” De Ridder told Submission Radio.
“Maybe not too nice to arrive again, but we can discuss the conditions afterwards,” he continued.
De Ridder predicts UFC 319 Main Event
Although the Dutch hunter hopes that Chimaev will withdraw, he has offered his prediction prior to the planned fight and admits that he tends to 'still know'.
“I still tend to drus because of the experience I have with both boys, I just don't see him finishing early and I see Dricus building in the third, fourth and fifth round and I see him doing it, but we will see, hopefully it will never happen and I can jump in,” said De Ridder.
De Ridder is generally considered a 'dark horse' in the middleweight division and one of his former enemies has claimed that only Chimaev can stop his turnout to become UFC champion.