Reinier de Ridder will get a quick turnaround after stopping Bo Nickal earlier this month at UFC Des Moines when the former ONE double champion meets former UFC middleweight king Robert Whittaker in a five-round main event at UFC Abu Dhabi on July 26.
UFC officials announced the matchup on Saturday via X (shown below).
Whittaker, 34, is coming off a vicious submission loss to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 308 back in Oct. 2024 which left his jaw cracked and teeth broken (see it HERE). It was just his second defeat at 185 pounds outside of a UFC title fight. Before his loss to “Borz,” Whittaker had racked off back-to-back wins over middleweight contenders Paulo Costa and Ikram Aliskerov so he’s still in the thick of things when it comes to UFC title contention in 2025.
De Ridder, also 34, has been on an absolute tear since making his Octagon debut back in late 2024. In just a span of six months, “RDR” has claimed finishes over Gerald Meerschaert, Kevin Holland, and the aforementioned Nickal. While Nickal is the most inexperienced fighter out of the bunch their meeting at UFC Des Moines last weekend was extremely high-profile. De Ridder pulled through with flying colors, landed a massive victory to hand Nickal his first pro loss, and now puts himself one or two more wins away for his first shot at UFC gold.
Fuck, this is the only top 5 fight I didn’t want to see RDR take.
I like both of them and I can never cheer against Rob. I guess we’re seeing how legit RDR is right away.
Pulling for rdr for ending nikals hype train
I like whittaker but he’s a gatekeeper
Nice
This De Ridder guy is taking the elevator to the top. If he wins he will be fighting for a title next year. Tough match stylistically
I would have rather seen RDR/Nassourdine for a title eliminator and Strickland/Whittaker to stay in title contention.
He is tall and has a reach advantage on Whittaker.
I still would give the standup edge to Bobby because of his foot work. Bobby is hard to take down so I think he should win a close fight. I’d never put De Ridder out though
Great fight to make.
War Bobby Knuckles!
The Dutchman wins and retires Whittaker