Reinier De Ridder didn’t have much to say in response to Khamzat Chimaev’s critique of his recent loss, but one troll account did bring receipts.
The former ONE FC champion decided not to get off the stool between rounds at UFC Vancouver as Brendan Allen defeated him in what could be a title decider at middleweight. It led to widespread trolling from the MMA world, most notably Chimaev himself.
Now an account claiming to be De Ridder has launched a comeback at the champion, using just two words but a slew of pictures mocking his rival’s regular pullouts. Since signing with the UFC 11 months ago, the Dutch star has fought five times, while Chimaev has fought the same amount since 2021.
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Reinier De Ridder troll hits back at Khamzat Chimaev amid social media feud
Khamzat Chimaev was quick to react to Reinier De Ridder’s defeat on Saturday night, writing multiple mocking messages on X for his followers. “This bulls— guy give up,” he wrote, after tagging a fake account to write “big bulls—“.
Never one to miss the chance for a viral tweet, the person behind the De Ridder account clapped back at the middleweight champion. Over 2.1million people saw him reply “shut up,” alongside a rat emoji and a collage of photos of Chimaev in hospital around his various fight pullouts and health issues.
In actual fact, it appears that De Ridder has not made any statement about the fight or his decision not to continue on via any of his official channels. His coach has spoken out with a lengthy message to fans on social media, and millions were duped by the Chimaev tweet.
Reinier De Ridder coach reacts to UFC Vancouver loss
In a post to his private Instagram account, coach Harun Ozkan wrote a lengthy message which read: “Last night didn’t go as we wanted. After a very strong start in the first round, things quickly started fading and we couldn’t really recover from the shots in and after the second round.
“I made the call to stop the fight after the fourth round. I take full responsibility for that decision and it was the right call to make for me in the moment. It’s not a decision I ever wanted to make, but I guess sometimes you have to. My job is to coach, but also to look out for my fighter’s health.
“I’ve been with Reinier for basically his whole career and saw too many signs that made me step in. If I didn’t do anything, he would’ve continued the fight. Rather than risk unnecessary damage, I decided to call it a day and go home as healthy as possible. Live to fight another day.
“I absolutely do not care about pleasing others if it comes at the cost of someone’s health. There’s a thin line between ‘being tough’ and watching out for your health. This sport can be brutal. These guys sacrifice a lot of their life in and out of the cage – there’s no need for excess damage if it can be avoided.
“Most people forget they’re human too. Zero excuses for this loss, we knew what we were going for. We are not happy with this performance, but for now recovery first, evaluate some stuff and we will be back next year.
“It has been an amazing year overall and thankful for all the highs and lows in life. Proud of you my brother [Reinier]. We’ve come a long way.”