UFC 311 is the first PPV of 2025 for the promotion and yesterday we learned of a fun middleweight matchup that’s heading to the card in Los Angelas. MMA Mania first reported that one of the more popular fighters in the promotion in “The Trailblazer” Kevin Holland (26-12) returns as he takes on former two-division ONE Championship champion Reinier De Ridder (18-2).
UFC 311 goes down on January 18th. Both of these guys are on the outside of the top fifteen but with a win, they could be knocking on that door. Starting with Kevin Holland, he’ll be looking to bounce back after a tough loss in his last fight. After back-to-back decision losses at 170, Holland returned to middleweight last June and submitted Michal Oleksiejczuk in the first round.
Following that win, he decided to stay at 185. He took on Roman Dolidze at UFC 307 and ultimately lost by injury TKO after he injured his ribs during a grappling exchange in the first round. It was a tough loss, but it’s one that Holland can easily bounce back from.
Back in 2020, Holland was one of the UFC’s Fighters of the Year after he went 5-0. Those five wins got him into title contention, but hen he ran against big time middleweight grapplers who gave him issues. That prompted his move to 170. Now back at middleweight, he’s going to take on another high-level grappler.
UFC 311
“The Dutch Knight” Reinier De Ridder signed with the UFC earlier this year and it was a pretty big signing at the time. After his ONE Championship title defense in 2022, De Ridder was 16-0. However, he lost back-to-back title fights against Anatoly Malykhin. He left ONE after those losses and picked up a win at UAE Warriors before signing.
He made his octagon debut earlier this month against veteran Gerald Meerschaert who is also known for his grappling. When they fought, Meerschaert was getting the better of De Ridder on the feet in the first round, but De Ridder showed his power dropping Meerschaert at the end of the first round.
After losing the second round, De Ridder was able to take down a tired Meerschaert in the third and final round. He submitted him with an arm-triangle and after the win, he made it clear to the UFC that he wants to get right back in there. It’s a two-month turnaround and he gets a tough test with Kevin Holland.