The UFC is working on booking a middleweight matchup featuring arguably the division’s top prospect with a ranking on the line. Bo Nickal (7-0) will look to hold onto his perfect professional record as he takes on former two-division ONE champion Reinier De Ridder (19-2).
The fight hasn’t been officially announced yet, but Val Dewar has reported that agreements are in place for this matchup but a location and date aren’t set in stone. Starting with Nickal, this is a very similar matchup as his last one. Nickal faced Paul Craig at UFC 309 in November.
This was the first time that Nickal was facing an elite grappler which meant that he needed to keep things on the feet. While Nickal won by decision, he didn’t wow anyone with his performance. De Ridder is another top level grappler so it’ll be interesting to see if Nickal has a similar game plan or if he attempts to make things more exciting.
UFC Middleweight Matchup
De Ridder took Nickal’s spot in the rankings after his last performance. De Ridder faced Kevin Holland at UFC 311 in January and he submitted Holland in the first round. It moved De Ridder to 2-0 inside the octagon but this was a much better performance than his debut.
De Ridder has now won three fights in a row after suffering his only two career losses against Anatoly Malykhin in ONE Championship. De Ridder is known for his top level grappling but he can hold his own on the feet. I’m guessing that whenever this fight takes place, we will primarily see a striking matchup.