Former ONE two-division champ had one of 2025’s biggest upsets
After he delivered a left strike that staggered Bo Nickal backwards, UFC middleweight Reinier de Ridder (20-2) surged forward with a left knee to his opponent’s abdomen.
Nickal (7-1) collapsed near the cage before the referee called the fight in round two in favor of the Netherlands-born fighter.
With his arms raised to his side, de Ridder stood upward then blew kisses to a few upset fans in the crowd before he formed a heart-shaped motion to cap off his post-fight celebration at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines on May 3.
De Ridder handed Nickal, a four-time Penn State wrestling All-American, the first loss of his mixed martial arts career. He did it with a collection of body shots throughout the fight.
“I felt like every time I hit him to the body, I felt him dropping his hands a little bit, I felt him moving to his right like he was hurt a little bit,” de Ridder said. “I saw he was hurt (in the second round). I took a step back. I stepped back in; he hit me with a one-two (punch). I was like, ‘that’s not smart’ and then I hit him again to the body, and I got him out of there and I felt he was on his way out already.”
Prior to the middleweight scrap, de Ridder’s walkout carried a roar of boos more than his octagon counterpart like a soldier entering enemy territory. Yet, the TKO finish unleashed a high-pitched roar of applause. It was de Ridder’s third-straight win in the UFC over the last six months.
Following the fight, de Ridder sported bumps, bruises and a noticeable grin as he took his seat inside the media interview room in the depths of Wells Fargo Arena.
“It wasn’t too bad right?” de Ridder said with a smirk post-fight.
The result offered a bit of jubilation and a victory over a rising prospect in Nickal. For de Ridder, the win was a stepping stone to a bigger opportunity against a top-ten fighter in the middleweight division. He called for a fight against former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland, who is ranked No. 2 in the division.
“As I said in the cage. This was the best American wrestler? Let’s do the best American striker,” de Ridder said. “I like Sean, he’s a funny dude, he’s a real character … and I think he’s an interesting matchup style-wise. He has a very good jab; I don’t think my jab is too bad. I would like that fight, I would really like that fight.”
De Ridder has a knack for competition. So much so, he’d fight the following week if it meant that he’d climb the middleweight division at a faster rate. For now, he’s enjoying the fruits of his labor focused on a higher-stakes showdown.