UFC middleweight Reinier de Ridder arrived in a big way in the co-main event of UFC Des Moines last night, and he did so by defeating Bo Nickal in a vicious manner.
Ever since entering the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Reinier de Ridder has been a problem for the rest of the middleweight division. That was especially true when he battled Bo Nickal in a fight that, for many, served as the first major test for Nickal since he arrived in the promotion. Unfortunately for the American, he fell short in a big way.
Alas, that doesn’t take anything away from Reinier de Ridder, who goes in there every time with the intention to finish the fight. He is talented in pretty much every department of mixed martial arts and while there are higher level guys out there, he reminded everyone why he was a double champion during his time in ONE Championship.
Reinier de Ridder is legit
A lot of us knew this already, but Reinier de Ridder is legit. In all honesty, it was surprising to see so many people picking against him when this fight was first booked. Even as we got closer and closer to fight night, it feels like the confidence of Bo Nickal swayed a lot of people in his direction.
Now we can see that it was misplaced. The Dutchman has noted that he wants to fight Sean Strickland and while we don’t think he’ll get that fight right away, we do believe he’s earned the right to get a big fight in his next outing.
As for Nickal, this could either make or break him in MMA. He is just 29 years of age and could have many more years left in the UFC, but he needs to look in the mirror and really think about what needs to change.
