Yesterday it was announced that the UFC had signed former two-division ONE Championship title holder Reinier de Ridder (17-2). “The Dutch Knight” was a free agent and last fought back in July. It didn’t take long to find out who he’d be facing in his first fight.
De Ridder will be making his debut at a UFC Fight Night on November 9th and he’ll be taking on “GM3” Gerald Meerschaert (37-17). UFC Op Eurosport first reported the fight on Instagram. Meerschaert holds the record for the most finishes in the middleweight division and while he’s not a ranked opponent, should be a good test for De Ridder’s octagon debut.
Meerschaert last fought just about a month ago when he took on Edmen Shahbazyan at The APEX. After getting hurt really bad in the fight, Meerschaert rallied and pulled off a second round submission. It was his second submission victory of the year. GM3 is always willing to take on the guys coming in with a lot of hype outside of the UFC. He was the first big test for Khamzat Chimaev and Joe Pyfer. Now, he’ll welcome The Dutch Knight to the octagon.
UFC Fight Night
Fans should be really excited for the octagon debut of De Ridder. That said, his debut would’ve had a little more hype had it happened before December 2022. At that time, De Ridder was an undefeated two-division champion in ONE. However, in back-to-back fights, he lost both titles to Anatoly Malykhin.
Following the second fight, De Ridder left ONE and fought in July for UAE Warriors. He picked up a first round finish over Magomedmurad Khasaev. Now, he’ll make the walk for the first time and he’ll look to make a huge impression on the UFC audience.
He told MMA Junkie that he eyes a matchup with champion Dricus Du Plessis as well as former champs Sean Strickland and Israel Adesanya. That said, he’s got a ways to go before those fights can materialize.