Reinier De Ridder | The Dutch Knight Continues To Rise

“I didn't really get hurt, I was able to finish them both. The weight has been a bit of a thing. I really have to work to stay a little closer to my weight. After the last one, I got a little heavy. But, yeah, all in all, I'm very happy. I'm very happy to be here.

“I want to stay at 185. The goal is the belt here. That’s what I’m working for. Maybe after we can talk about another weight, but first, 185.”

WATCH: Reinier de Ridder Fight Week Interview

De Ridder is keen to move his way up the middleweight division, and revealed that he was close to accepting a quick-turnaround fight before he was eventually offered a bout with Nickal.

“Yeah, we were talking about a quick, short-notice fight,” he explained.

“So I was supposed to maybe even fight a week later, after the last LA fight, but it didn't come to fruition, unfortunately. Then, a couple weeks later, they called me about the Bo fight.

“I was surprised, because I didn't really expect that one. But I think style-wise, it's a very cool matchup to see. Our grappling style clash will be very cool. And he's maybe not a top five talent yet, but he's definitely a top five name. So yeah, I'm very happy with the matchup.”

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Nickal doesn’t have the MMA experience de Ridder possesses, but the Dutchman has been impressed with what he’s seen from the former Penn State standout in his MMA career so far.

“He’s knocked it out the park every time,” he said.

“He's won every fight, beat everybody put in front of him. He's kept to his part.

“The Paul Craig fight wasn't that exciting, but he showed what he's been working on. He's been working on his striking, his footwork looks decent, his cage control looks pretty decent, some decent pump fakes, and his overhands are not too bad. So, yeah, he's doing what he can.”

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The UFC middleweight division has traditionally been dominated by strikers, but the rise of a new breed of fighters who are equally capable of finishing fights on the ground offers encouragement for de Ridder, who has finished 17 of his 19 career wins, with 13 of those coming via submission.

“Well, the big one now is Khamzat [Chimaev] versus Dricus [Du Plessis], of course. A bit of a grappler versus striker matchup, and there's a few guys underneath there that are pretty good everywhere,” he explained. 

“Caio [Borralho] is pretty good at striking and grappling. [Nassourdine] Imavov is a good striker and a good grappler. And I've trained with Dricus a bit, and his grappling is no joke, either. That's where we're at anyway, you gotta do it all. You gotta be good everywhere.”

Perhaps surprisingly, given the names he listed, de Ridder said he’d actually love to test himself against two of the division’s top strikers, as he revealed that matchups with a pair of former 185-pound champions are on his 2025 wishlist.

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“Yeah, I got a couple of dream fights up there,” he grinned.

“[Sean] Strickland would be cool. [Israel] Adesanya would be very cool. One of those would be great as the next fight.”

Before he can call for fights against former champions, de Ridder needs to continue boosting his own stock in the crowded UFC middleweight division, starting with a victory over Nickal on Saturday night.

Nickal’s wrestling credentials are well documented, but de Ridder said he’s been impressed with how the American has worked on rounding out his skill set.

The latest example of that came in Nickal’s unanimous decision victory over Paul Craig at UFC 309, where he opted to stand and strike from distance as he kept well clear of the Scottish submission specialist’s dangerous ground game.

That performance might offer a glimpse into how Nickal could approach things against another grappler in de Ridder, but the Dutchman isn’t convinced that we’ll see a repeat of that showing this weekend.

“It's hard to say. I think it's up to me in this one,” he said.

“I need to make him wrestle. I need to make him go there.

“It seems like he was pretty content with this last performance, the way he moved, the way he stayed safe.  He did the smart thing, anyway.

“You saw he was winning in the striking department – he was outstriking him every round, and he just stuck to that. But this one will look nothing like that. This fight will look nothing like that last fight of his.”

De Ridder sees his path to victory coming via his grappling, but said that his mat skills alone won’t be enough to win it. He’ll need to make his mark with his strikes first.

“I need to put the pressure on him,” he stated.

“I need to hurt him a couple times, and I need to get close, wrestle, grapple, and see if I can find his neck.

“I’ve been working on a lot of different chokes, but what I see is me hurting him a couple times, hurting him to the body, hurting him upstairs, getting into some grappling exchanges, some wrestling exchanges, and finally, wrapping my arms around his neck.”

He makes it all sound so straightforward, but while the breakdown of his approach reflects his confidence in his abilities, it’s also an indication that he’s relaxed and and content with where he is at this stage of his career.

“I’m very happy. It's cool to be here,” he said.

“The activity is so nice to be fighting a couple times a year. This is my third time in six months. I really found a home at [his gym] Kill Cliff in Florida. So yeah, things are looking good, so let’s make it three!”