Reiner de Ridder’s mind says Khamzat Chimaev, but his heart is hoping for Dricus du Plessis.
After logging an impressive split-decision win over Robert Whittaker in Abu Dhabi, ‘RDR’ appears to be the next man up in the middleweight division. But before getting his first shot at UFC gold, the Dutchman will have to sit back and wait to see out things play out at UFC 319 when du Plessis puts his 185-pound crown on the line against the undefeated Chechen monster.
Speaking with MMA Fighting, de Ridder revealed that while he believes Chimaev is likely to come out on top, he’s keeping his fingers crossed for du Plessis to pull off another upset.
“Khamzat is of course—I think if Khamzat wins this one, especially if he wins decisively, he’ll be like a huge name,” de Ridder said. “That might come with him taking a lot of time off after. So it might be better if Dricus wins, and then we can fight in four to six months. That would be best, I think.”
Can ‘DDP’ continue to defy the odds against Khamzat Chimaev?
Since 2022, Chimaev has only competed once per year — a far cry from his days of beating three opponents in eight weeks. With a slew of illnesses, cancellations, and one egregious weight miss, some have speculated that Chimaev’s potential UFC 319 title win could spell disaster for the promotion.
Clearly, ‘RDR’ feels similarly.
But there is good news for de Ridder. In seven of his nine career fights inside the Octagon, Dricus du Plessis has opened up as an underdog, and his clash against Chimaev is no different. In fact, ‘Borz’ is trending as a 2-to-1 favorite less than a week away from fight night. But despite being repeatedly counted out, ‘DDP’ is a perfect 9-0 under the UFC banner, proving that you can never truly count out the South African sensation.