INGLEWOOD, Calif. – If somebody advised Reinier de Ridder to shoot for the moon if he had an enormous evening at UFC 311, he handed the check.
De Ridder (19-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) opened the UFC 311 primary card Saturday at Intuit Dome with a shocking submission of Kevin Holland (26-13 MMA, 13-10 UFC). The grappling specialist did exactly what he mentioned he would do – and exactly what Holland mentioned he’d be shocked to see occur.
Afterward, de Ridder, a simultaneous two-division titleholder for ONE Championship earlier than he got here to the UFC, used his post-fight information convention to go large with what he needs subsequent after a second UFC win.
De Ridder would welcome a shot at former middleweight champ Robert Whittaker or the extremely touted Khamzat Chimaev.
“Khamzat and Whittaker, (I’d prefer to battle),” de Ridder advised MMA Junkie after his win. “Khamzat shall be cool for a grapplers matchup – can be cool for all that he’s accomplished. Please – I hope they provide me this. It will be wonderful. I might be prepared as quickly as they’re.”
De Ridder additionally mentioned he’d be eager about a battle towards the winner of ex-middleweight champ Israel Adesanya and Nassourdine Imavov, who headline UFC Saudi Arabia in two weeks.
One query critics had for de Ridder forward of his first UFC battle was simply how good the Dutchman was, given his success was exterior the UFC. However with back-to-back submissions to open his run within the promotion, and the large callouts, the 34-year-old is fast-tracking himself.
Take a look at de Ridder’s full post-fight interview above.
For extra on the cardboard, go to MMA Junkie’s occasion hub for UFC 311.
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