Reinier de Ridder was never worried about Bo Nickal’s wrestling acumen.
Returning to the Octagon for his third promotional appearance at UFC Des Moines, ‘The Dutch Knight’ delivered a spectacular showing against the former Nittany Lion, folding Nickal in the second stanza with an especially brutal body shot.
An accomplished BJJ specialist, de Ridder had little concern walking into the bout, believing that whether it be in the clinch or on the mat, he’d hold a decided advantage over the D-1 national wrestling champion.
“This fight is going to be won or lost in the clinch,” de Ridder told TMZ Sports. “I wasn’t scared of his wrestling because I know once we hit the floor, every scramble is in my advantage because I can find that neck every time.”
Reinier de Ridder aiming high following his show-stealing performance at UFC Des Moines
While de Ridder’s victory over Nickal was a bit moment for the former two-division ONE world champion, the fact remains that Nickal was an unranked fighter and the Dutchman himself is barely in the middleweight division’s top 15, occupying the No. 13 spot.
Still, that didn’t stop de Ridder from aiming high during his post-fight interview.
“I wanted to say this is the best American wrestling you have, right? Now, give you the best American striker,” de Ridder told Michael Bisping. “[Sean] Strickland, you’re up, buddy! Let’s go.”
Strickland currently sits as the No. 2 ranked contender in the division after coming up short against reigning titleholder Dricus Du Plessis in his last outing.
It’s unlikely that the UFC would give de Ridder such a high-profile opponent in his next outing, but there are plenty of favorable matchups to get him in the top 10. Jared Cannonier, Roman Dolidze, and Marvin Vettori, to name a few.
