Could unforeseen circumstances lead to a quick UFC title opportunity for Reinier de Ridder?
Saturday will be pivotal for de Ridder, as he will meet former UFC Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker. The 185-pound scrap will headline UFC Abu Dhabi. For de Ridder, it’s a chance to shoot up to a top five position in the division.
If de Ridder pulls off a finish over Whittaker, it might just leave the door open for a title shot sooner than most expect.
Farah Hannoun of MMAJunkie.com had a sit-down interview with de Ridder ahead of UFC Abu Dhabi. The former two-division ONE Championship titleholder said he believes he could be an emergency option if the planned middleweight title fight between Dricus du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev hits a last-minute snag.
“Hopefully if I can do well, it all depends on how the fight goes,” De Ridder said. “Like a win is not enough. I need to finish him. I need to finish him early, hopefully spectacularly, and as I said, we all hope Imavov and Borralho is boring, goes five rounds, nothing happens. That would be perfect, or maybe Khamzat pulls out last minute and they give me a call. We’ll see.”
There would be one significant hurdle to overcome if de Ridder puts himself in a position to serve as an emergency replacement for the UFC 319 main event.
“I’ll be ready to fight again, or as I said, I might be ready to step in last minute if necessary,” De Ridder said. “So, we’ll see what happens. Weighing in is the hardest part, so hopefully not weighing in at all. We’ll see.”
Ahead of fight night, de Ridder has said that he wants to pull off a memorable finish over Whittaker. Meanwhile, Whittaker’s goal is to not only get back in the win column, but to return to the UFC middleweight title picture.