Reinier de Ridder is done at middleweight — at least for now.
The former two-division ONE champion announced plans to move to light heavyweight following his latest loss against Caio Borralho at UFC 326. Prior to the fight, de Ridder teased that moving to 205 pounds was potentially in his future, but after suffering a second straight loss in the octagon, he made the decision to change divisions now instead of later.
“I came up a little short,” de Ridder said addressing his teammates on Instagram. “I think
it could have gone either way but I’m happy that I got my body back most importantly. I was able to go three hard rounds. I think I have a lot more to show.
“I brought you guys donuts because I need you guys heavy, I need you guys strong because I’m coming at 205 [pounds], baby.”
Of course, de Ridder spent a lot of his career competing at light heavyweight while he was in ONE Championship. The Asia based promotion actually considers 205 pounds the middleweight division in an attempt to curb extreme weight cutting.
So technically, de Ridder was already fighting at 205 pounds as the ONE middleweight champion, and he went up even higher to compete at light heavyweight while he was there.
Following a lackluster outing against Brendan Allen in 2025, de Ridder admitted that he had to make some changes to his training and preparation after he was exhausted just a few minutes into the fight. While de Ridder said he got everything back on track ahead of UFC 326, he still ultimately suffered a unanimous decision loss.
Now de Ridder is going to try his hand at light heavyweight, which is arguably a much thinner division than middleweight so it probably won’t take long for him to make an impact.
