Newly signed UFC middleweight Reinier de Ridder says a victory is not enough when he debuts inside the Octagon this weekend at the Apex.
Among the most notable storylines set to play out at Saturday's UFC Fight Night is the arrival of de Ridder, a former two-division titleholder under the ONE Championship banner over in Asia.
After losing his undefeated record in addition to his 205- and 225-pound belts to Russian behemoth Anatoly Malykhin, "The Dutch Knight" departed ONE earlier this year. And after getting back to the win column opposite Magomedmurad Khasaev at UAE Warriors 51, the 34-year-old put pen to paper on a deal with the UFC.
While he'll no doubt hope to walk through an arena crowd soon enough, his first taste of Octagon action will come in the serene surroundings of the Apex on Nov. 9, where veteran Gerald Meerschaert is set to await him.
During his appearance at UFC Vegas 100 media day on Wednesday, de Ridder looked ahead to his first foray into the cage in his new promotion and assessed what he must do to establish himself as a force to be reckoned with on the sport's biggest stage.
Finally, after all these years of talking about the top guys, to finally be close to getting them is very cool," de Ridder said. "The most important this is Gerald first. It’s a very cool matchup. ... A win is not enough – the top dogs finish Gerald and I want to prove I’m one of them. ... I’ve always watched his fights and that’s a great thing for this fight as well. There’s so much tape to study. He has so much fights. He has a really difficult style.
The ways he finishes fights, there’s a few things he’s very dangerous at, there’s a few things he does that I think I can really capitalize as well. But it’s a great matchup," de Ridder continued. "I’m very happy that they’ve given me him for my first fight because he’s a veteran, he’s a real name, and I think if I can put a stamp on this one, I have some leverage to start calling out some bigger names.
De Ridder will look to make good on those remarks by delivering an emphatic finish of Meerschaert on the main card of the promotion's centennial Apex-held UFC Fight Night.
Should he do so, the Dutchman has the likes of Bo Nickal in his sights as he hopes to add UFC gold to his already illustrious trophy cabinet in mixed martial arts.