Reiner de Ridder debuted with the UFC in November, but UFC 311 was his real welcome party. De Ridder, a former two-division champion under the ONE Championship banner, delivered a flawless performance inside Los Angeles’ Intuit Dome on Saturday that will do him wonders moving forward.
An ugly win over 22-fight UFC veteran Gerald Meerschaert hampered enthusiasm for de Ridder’s signing. De Ridder’s striking and wrestling left something to be desired. On Saturday, the Dutchman looked renewed against Kevin Holland.
De Ridder immediately neutralized Holland’s striking with a takedown. It took de Ridder three-and-a-half minutes to take Holland’s back and secure a rear-naked choke finish. De Ridder was true to his pre-fight promise of fighting more aggressively than he did against Meerschaert. Holland’s loss was the second fastest of his UFC career, behind only a submission loss to Khamzat Chimaev.
“Anybody and everybody,” de Ridder told UFC commentator Joe Rogan when asked about his next fight. “I can be ready quickly. If you have a nice matchup for me, hopefully in the top five, give me a chance.”
De Ridder’s performance was impressive but it likely won’t notch him a top-five opponent. De Ridder and Holland are not currently ranked in the UFC’s official middleweight rankings, and likely won’t be once the standings are updated on Monday.
De Ridder improved to 18-2 in mixed martial arts. He’s a perfect 2-0 in the UFC after losing his ONE light heavyweight and middleweight titles in consecutive fights against Anatoly Malykhin. Holland (26-13, 1 NC) is on the fifth two-fight skid of his professional career. A technical submission win over Michał Oleksiejczuk is his only win in the last five fights. His other recent losses are to Roman Dolidze, Michael “Venom” Page and Jack Della Maddalena.
