The UFC establishment can often be hard to break into, and we have seen many fighters over the years fail when facing the best of the best in their respective divisions, but Reinier De Ridder has proven that he belongs amongst the cream of the UFC Middleweight division following his impressive performance against Robert Whittaker on Saturday night in Abu Dhabi.
His performance against Whittaker showed that he has all the makings of a top contender and a potential champion in the division. It was a razor-close split decision in favour of De Ridder, with two of the three judges scoring it 48-47 in the Dutchman’s favour. Perhaps the most impressive part of De Ridder’s performance was his recovery from being knocked down at the start of Round three, as Whittaker followed up with nasty ground and pound, and seemed seconds away from winning the fight.
What De Ridder did better than Whittaker in this fight was his use of body shots, with 38% of his strikes landing to the body, compared to just 6% for Whittaker. De Ridder also racked up over nine minutes of control time, proving himself to be a well-rounded mixed martial artist. His win now leaves him sitting on a 4-0 record in the UFC and in the top five of the middleweight rankings.
What Next?
There are a lot of moving parts in the UFC Middleweight rankings at the moment, and it is very likely that De Ridder will need one more fight before he can challenge for the title, with Khamzat Chimaev set to be the next challenger for Driccus Du Plessis’ crown next month. It is more than likely that the next contender after that will be the winner of Nassourdine Imavov and Caio Borralho, ranked number one and si, respectively.
That would more than likely leave Israel Adesanya, who is currently ranked fourth as the most likely to fight for RDR. Adesanya is currently on a three-fight losing streak, with his most recent loss coming via TKO against Imavov back in February. The former champ will want to get back in the win column and propel his name back into title contention, and it would seem that this is the most obvious fight for both RDR and Adesanya, as most of the current top contenders are booked, and with Sean Strickland currently indefinitely suspended, this would seem the most likely next bout.
It would be an interesting stylistic clash, with Adesanya’s more polished striking against De Ridder’s more well-rounded approach. It would be interesting to see how both fighters adapt.
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