Reinier de Ridder never feared Bo Nickal: 'My jiu-jitsu, my judo, my wrestling is so good, I can hang with anybody'
05/04/2025 11:00 AM
Reinier de Ridder heard all about Bo Nickal's wrestling credentials in the weeks leading up to their fight at UFC Des Moines but that wasn't going to stop him from challenging the three-time NCAA champion in every facet of the game when they met in the co-main event.
From the start of the fight, de Ridder actually initiated the clinch several times and even scored a slick reversal in the first round where he ended up on top of Nickal looking for submissions. He continuously trapped Nickal in similar positions in the second round until de Ridder saw an opening to really start punishing the body with a series of knees.
For all the ways Nickal was touted as a future champion with arguably the best wrestling in the sport, de Ridder never feared testing that part of his game in their fight and it obviously paid off.
"He is maybe [a god of wrestling] but I think this goes for anything in life, especially in fighting, you should look at what you do good, what you do well," de Ridder said at the UFC Des Moines post-fight press conference. "Don't be distracted by what anybody else brings to the table.
"It doesn't matter. My jiu-jitsu, my judo, my wrestling is so good, I can hang with anybody. It doesn't matter what they bring."
While he hasn't watched the fight back yet, de Ridder had a pretty good idea how he turned the tables by first showing off his grappling skills but then surprising Nickal with his striking acumen.
By the time he finished the fight, Nickal was already looking labored in his movement and that speaks directly to the continued punishment that de Ridder was dishing out on the feet.
"It wasn't too bad, right?" de Ridder said about his performance. "I got him with some good shots. At a moment in the clinch, I was able to get a little bit of space, get his hips away a little bit with the whizzer then I got him with the knee in the first round. Second round, I ended up on top but I was surprised with how well he did on bottom. It was not easy to get him right away. I wasn't able to posture right away because he moved pretty well. I was looking for the side choke at a moment but it wasn't there.
"I haven't really seen the finishing sequence but I think I threw the right hook, left knee, hit him coming in and every time I hit him to the body, I felt him dropping his hands a little bit. I felt him moving to his right like he was hurt a little bit. I saw he was hurt, I took a step back, I stepped back in, he hit me with a 1-2 and I was like that's not smart. Then I hit him again to the body, I think, and then I got him out of there because I felt like he was on his way out already."
While he's earned his reputation in the sport for his suffocating submission skills, de Ridder is quick to point out that he comes from the Netherlands — a country famous for producing some of the nastiest strikers in the history of combat sports.
"I'm still Dutch," de Ridder said. "I'm still Dutch somewhere deep inside."
As far as what comes next, de Ridder called his shot from the octagon when he asked for a fight against former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland, who hasn't made an appearance since losing a rematch to Dricus du Plessis in early 2024.
Without an opponent or a date for his return booked, Strickland is totally available and de Ridder loves the idea of adding that name to his resume, even if it means absorbing a little bit of verbal abuse along the way.
"I think I might be regretting it in a little bit," de Ridder joked about Strickland's notorious trash talk towards his opponents. "As I said in the cage, this was the best American wrestler, let's see the best American striker.
"I like Sean. He's a funny dude. He's a real character. He's top five right? I think it's an interesting matchup style wise. He has a very good jab. I don't think my jab is too bad. I would like that fight. I would really like that fight."
