Reinier De Ridder is planning to defeat Robert Whittaker at UFC Dhabi.
That would likely send “The Dutch Knight” into the Top 5 of the middleweight rankings and put him in line for the winner of the UFC 319 main event, where Dricus Du Plessis defends the 185-pound strap against undefeated contender Khamzat Chimaev.
Unless “Borz” misses weight or pulls out at the last minute ... again.
“I’m still hoping Khamzat pulls out last minute. It’s two weeks after my fight, so maybe we can still get lucky,” De
Ridder told Submission Radio. “That’d be nice. Maybe not too nice to make weight again, but we can discuss the terms after. I just don’t see Khamzat finishing him early, and I see Dricus building in the third, fourth, fifth round. I see him edging it out. We’ll see. Hopefully it never happens and I can jump in.”
He might want to check with “Stillknocks” on that one.
Assuming Du Plessis and Chimaev are able to compete without incident, De Ridder (20-2) may face competition from the winner of this fight, which could produce an equally-worthy title contender for late 2025 or early 2026, depending on the health of the champion.
Still lots of moving parts in the crowded middleweight division.
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