Reinier de Ridder has hit the ground since he arrives in the UFC, where he quickly climbed the middleweight ladder.
The former two-weight title holder in one championship made his Octagon debut last November and he has already collected three wins and finishes.
De Ridder's upset victory over Bo Nickal in des Moines brought his stock to new heights with the submission specialist who stopped the undefeated prospect of the feet.
As a result, he has now made his first main event against a former champion with De Ridder opposite Robert Whittaker in Abu Dhabi on July 26.
With a pro-record of 20-2, both earlier losses came to the same man who recently shared some thoughts about the UFC run of 'RDR'.
Anatoly Malykhin says that Reinier de Ridder is a top three UFC mid weight with Khamzat Chimaev who presents the only risk
Anatoly Malykhin is not surprised to see his former opponent, Reinier de Ridder, achieving great things in the UFC after leaving one championship last year.
'RDR' lost its one middleweight and light heavyweight titles in back-to-back defeats to the Russian, who started writing history by becoming a three-weight champion.
Malykhin, the larger man who has achieved success in heavyweight, De Ridder put on both occasions in the last fighting of the Dutchman before he signed at the UFC.
'Sladkiy' has a lot of respect for his former opponent and tells Bloody Elbow in an exclusive interview that De Ridder is a brave hunter who pushed him to a different level.
With that in mind, he believes that the medium -sized title -seconder Khamzat Chimaev is the only name in the 185 pound division of the UFC that can beat him in the octhoek.
“In the UFC, Bo Nickal is not a man at his level. Reinier had two belts at 102 (about 225 pounds) and 92 kilos (about 203 pounds). If he now cuts weight to 86 (about 190 pounds), he will be a huge threat in his division.
“If someone underestimates De Ridder now, they must stop immediately. In my opinion, he is in the top three in his weight class. The only opposition that I see realistically for him is Khamzat Chimaev.
“I don't think anyone else can stop him. He is a hunter of a very high caliber.”
Anatoly Malykhin predicts that Reinier de Ridder Robert Whittaker will subject in Abu Dhabi
In less than a year at the promotion, Reinier de Ridder was able to place a title photo with a victory on July 26.
Robert Whittaker was only once beaten by the very best in the world on 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 that forced him to immediately tap after he had sustained significant injuries to his jaw.
Anatoly Malykhin believes that the knight will be able to go outside and do something similar as the former middleweight champion.
“Whittaker is an elite hunter, so it's an interesting opponent for the knight, but Khamzat broke him both mentally and physically. So I think it's now the best time for this fight and I think the fight will be comparable to Khamzat versus Whittaker and that probably, De Ridder will win by submission.”