For some weird reason, the image of Reinier de Ridder’s knees doing a number on Nickal keeps playing in my head. It’s like watching a bizarre but satisfying dance move you can’t unsee. Anyway, this showdown happened in Des Moines, Iowa—no idea why I know this, but I do. De Ridder, this Dutch grappler guy, stepped into the cage at UFC on ESPN 67, facing some big expectations, or maybe none at all—depends on how you look at it. He was the underdog, which makes his decision to wrestle Nickal from the get-go all the more unexpected. Seriously, who does that to a former NCAA Division I champ?
And then—boom—Nickal’s unbeaten record got kneecapped (literally) in round two. Now, De Ridder is eyeing Sean Strickland and, honestly, seems a bit regretful about the call-out. Sean’s known for his trash talk, and De Ridder’s not exactly thrilled about diving into that chaos. But hey, he’s intrigued by the matchup. Says something about comparing the best American wrestler to the best striker or something like that. Not entirely sure what he meant, but it sounded cool.
De Ridder’s been smoking his opponents since he hit the UFC scene last November. And yeah, Strickland, well, he didn’t quite reclaim his middleweight title against Du Plessis. The whole thing’s like a whirlwind of jabs and punches—kinda disorienting. But yeah, Montreal next week? De Ridder seems pumped about it. Let’s see how that goes.
