Reinier de Ridder will have his eyes on this month’s highly anticipated middleweight title clash between Dricus du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev.
Following his impressive split-decision victory over Robert Whittaker in Abu Dhabi, de Ridder skyrocketed himself up the 185-pound rankings, landing in the No. 5 spot and potentially setting himself up for a shot at the division’s top prize.
But before he can cash in on a golden opportunity, he’ll have to sit back and wait to see how things play out on August 16 when du Plessis, the reigning middleweight world champion, puts his belt on the line against the undefeated Chechen monster at UFC 319.
‘RDR’ has already expressed his willingness to step in and fight du Plessis should Chimaev withdraw, as he’s been known to do. But if the fight goes off without a hitch, the Dutchman is hoping that ‘DDP’ will overcome the odds and retain his title.
“I think if Khamzat wins this one, especially if he wins decisively, he’ll be a huge name, and that might come with him taking a lot of time off after,” de Ridder told MMA Fighting. “So it might be better if Dricus wins, and then we can fight in 4–6 months. That would be best… So hopefully, it would be nice if Dricus wins and we can line it up.”
Who loses their ‘O’ inside the Octagon at UFC 319?
It will be du Plessis’ third middleweight title defense, the first two coming against Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland.
DDP’ enters the fight with a perfect 9-0 record inside the Octagon, while Chimaev is a spotless 14-0 in his mixed martial arts career, eight of those wins coming under the UFC banner. ‘Borz’ burst onto the scene in 2020, winning three fights in two months, but a nasty case of COVID-19 halted his momentum.
Chimaev has continued to win big fights, but his appearances have been few and far between. 2022 was the last time he fought more than once in a calendar year.
