It’s not often that the UFC signs fighters from different organizations unless it’s someone rather significant. The most recent signing was Michael “Venom” Page, who came over from Bellator.
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Now, the UFC has announced the signing of former two-division champion for ONE Championship, Reinier de Ridder.
De Ridder worked his way up through many organizations early on in his career like Superior FC, Hit-FC, and EFC, all while maintaining an undefeated record. In 2019, he made his official ONE debut, beating Gilberto Galvão by a TKO.
MIAMI, FLORIDA – APRIL 08: A general view of the octagon during the strawweight bout between Michelle Waterson-Gomez and Luana Pinheiro of Brazil during UFC 287 at Kaseya Center on April 08, 2023 in Miami, Florida. UFC has signed former ONE two-division champion Reinier de Ridder.
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De Ridder fought a total of nine times under the ONE banner, seven of which happened before he was able to obtain his first belt. Ridder would take on Aung La N Sang at ONE Championship: Inside the Matrix in 2020, defeating Sang and securing the middleweight belt via submission.
De Ridder and Sang would face off at ONE On TNT 4: La N Sang vs. De Ridder 2 in April 2021, resulting in Ridder defeating Sang once again, but this time for the light heavyweight belt.
De Ridder would defend his titles twice before taking on Anatoly Malykhinfor the first time in Dec. 2022 at ONE on Prime Video 5: De Ridder vs. Malykhin. Ridder lost the light heavyweight belt to a Malykhin by first-round knockout.
Ridder and Malykhin would face off again for the middleweight belt in March 2024, ultimately losing again by another TKO.
This led to de Ridder announcing his retirement. However, it did not take long for de Ridder to get back into the fighting game, as he joined the UAE Warriors in July to face off against Magomedmurad Khasaev.
De Ridder won by first-round knockout, setting up his entry into the UFC. So far, there has been no official announcement made, but reports are indicating that de Ridder has signed a multi-fight deal with the organization. UFC Roster Tracker was one of the first to announce the signing.
The opponent for de Ridder is not known, but he is reportedly going to fight at 185, or middleweight.
The current middleweight champion for the UFC is Dricus Du Plessis. Du Plessis recently defeated former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya to retain the middleweight belt.
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De Ridder will have his hands full with a tough division that includes Du Plessis, Adesanya, Robert Whittaker, Sean Strickland, and more. Still, being a two-division champ is no small feat.
If de Ridder can string together some early wins, he might be poised to make a run at the middleweight title sooner rather than later, especially if he has a similar rise to current light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.
For more UFC news, head to Newsweek Sports.
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