Reinier de Ridder isn’t entertaining a clash with Paulo Costa at the moment.
“RDR” is fresh off a split decision victory over former UFC Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker. The bout headlined UFC Abu Dhabi. It was certainly no small task for de Ridder, but he may have punched his ticket to a title opportunity or a No. 1 contender bout. Not everyone was impressed with the performance, however.
Following the bout, Costa took to social media to hurl slurs describing de Ridder’s efforts. The former two-division ONE Championship titleholder fired back during the UFC Abu Dhabi post-fight press conference, reminding “Borrachinha” of his loss to Whittaker.
During an interview with MMAFighting.com, de Ridder admitted that Costa would provide some entertaining pre-fight buzz. Still, he doesn’t feel the No. 12-ranked UFC middleweight is in a position to call his shot.
“He really, really wants that fight I think,” de Ridder explained. “He really wants to set something up. Keep trying. Keep trying, Paulo. You’ll get there. He would be a fun buildup, would be very fun in the press conference and everything with Paulo because he’s a character. But right now I don’t think he’s there.”
Costa is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Roman Kopylov. It was a needed win for “Borrachinha,” who was coming off losses to Sean Strickland and Whittaker. He had also gone 1-4 in his last five outings. While Costa is back in the win column, he’ll likely have some more work to do before he can fight someone in the top five rankings.
As for Reinier de Ridder, he will wait for the outcome of the UFC 319 main event. Middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis will put his gold at stake against Khamzat Chimaev on Aug. 16. There will be another pivotal middleweight matchup between Nassourdine Imavov and Caio Borralho on Sept. 6.
