Reinier de Ridder is wasting no time making his way up the UFC middleweight division.
The former ONE Championship double-champ, fresh off a win over Bo Nickal a week ago, has already booked his return. He’ll headline UFC Abu Dhabi on July 26 at the Etihad Arena, taking on former 185lb champ Robert Whittaker.
UFC officials announced the booking on Saturday.
For de Ridder (20-2), it will mark his fifth fight in a year, and fourth fight under the UFC banner since November 2024, an impressive pace to say the least. “The Dutch Knight,” who lost back-to-back fights against Anatoly Malykhin to close out his ONE Championship career, bemoaned the lack of activity in that promotion, warning other fighters against signing there.
RDR has not had the same difficulty finding fights in the UFC however. He debuted opposite Gerald Meerschaert, submitting the veteran, then put away Kevin Holland with a rear-naked choke back in January. The Nickal fight, however, which served as the UFC Des Moines co-main event, really turned heads. Reinier de Ridder finished that one on the feet, setting up the finish with some nasty knees to the body- earning a Performance of the Night bonus in the process.
Robert Whittaker (26-8) has not competed since suffering a nasty loss at the hands of Khamzat Chimeav last October. That left “The Reaper” with some serious damage to his jaw area. The Australian former champ had been on a two-fight win streak prior to that setback, having defeated Paulo Costa and Ikram Aliskerov.
Whittaker is ranked #5 in the middleweight division, while Reinier de Ridder sits at #13.
