UFC signs former ONE Championship ‘champ-champ’

“The Dutch Knight” is now an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter.

Today (Tues., Sept. 24, 2024), UFC Roster Tracker posted on Twitter that former ONE Championship two-division champion, Reinier de Ridder, has recently been added to UFC’s active roster.

MMAmania.com has confirmed with sources that De Ridder has, in fact, signed a multi-fight contract with UFC, but his debut is still to be determined.

De Ridder, 34, made his ONE Championship debut in 2019, running through the competition for four years ... in two divisions. In Oct. 2020, De Ridder won ONE Championship’s Middleweight title against Aung La Nsang via first round submission. Then, six months later, he moved up a division to capture ONE Championship’s Light Heavyweight title against La Nsang.

De Ridder twice defended the Light Heavyweight title before running into Russian powerhouse, Anatoly Malykhin — “The Dutch Knight” lost both of his titles to Malykhin via finish.

After his two losses, De Ridder departed ONE Championship with a 7-2 record. He signed a one-fight deal with UAE Warriors and got back into the win column by finishing Magomedmurad Khasaev in the first round.

De Ridder enters UFC with a 17-2 record and an 89 percent finish rate with 12 submission wins.

How about De Ridder versus Rodolfo Vieira for his Octagon debut?

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