Is Reinier de Ridder a legitimate threat to Dricus du Plessis' middleweight throne? Exploring the potential matchup

Reinier de Ridder walked out of UFC Des Moines as a real middleweight problem and a potential challenger to Dricus du Plessis in the future. His opponent, Bo Nickal, was built as the golden boy of the promotion with high-level wrestling and a good marketing push behind him.

However, none of that fazed de Ridder. Instead of playing to Nickal’s strengths, the Dutchman made it a suffocating contest with clinches and dirty boxing. De Ridder’s control was suffocating, using a blend of judo trips and smooth positional transitions to stay a step ahead.

In round two, his knees to the body wore Nickal down. The referee stepped in to stop the contest, and de Ridder walked away with his biggest win in the UFC.

While the performance has put the division on notice, de Ridder's eyes are fixed on Sean Strickland next. However, his dominant win at UFC Des Moines puts the spotlight on how he would fare against reigning champion Dricus du Plessis:

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Reinier de Ridder is a difficult matchup for anyone, including Dricus du Plessis

Reinier de Ridder is master of the art of mixing things up as suited to the nature of a fight. However, in doing so, he sticks to his strengths, mixing judo trips, pressure, and unorthodox top control.

A two-division champion in ONE Championship before joining the UFC, 'The Dutch Knight' has proven he can neutralize high-level wrestlers and crush strikers with positional dominance. He holds 15 submission wins in 20 career victories.

What makes de Ridder so dangerous is his patience. He doesn’t rush for a finish and breaks opponents over time. Against Nickal, he didn’t panic under early grappling pressure and adapted to the demands of the fight. And unlike traditional wrestlers, de Ridder brings the full spectrum of grappling. He mixes judo throws from the clinch, jiu-jitsu transitions, and even striking setups that create grappling entries.

On top of that, his striking is serviceable and improving, while still not the best in the division. Against Nickal, he surprised many with crisp knees, well-timed hooks, and good control in the clinch. Combine that with the cardio to go five rounds and the mental composure to not bite on feints, and suddenly, the blueprint to beat de Ridder becomes hard to sketch.

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Can Reinier de Ridder pass the Dricus du Plessis test?

Dricus du Plessis' fighting style can be summed up as chaotic with horsepower. The South African champion brings brute force, hard-nosed pressure, and, in Israel Adesanya's words, the unyielding stubbornness to win.

He breaks opponents with volume and violence. However, de Ridder embraces the chaos equally and thrives in it. He drags brawlers like du Plessis into deep waters and suffocates them.

Stylistically, this fight would be a chess match and the battle of wills. Du Plessis might land bombs early, but what happens when de Ridder ties him up and starts working from the top when the fight hits the mat?

De Ridder won’t match du Plessis’ power, but he doesn’t need to. He has the tools to nullify it. If he can survive the early storm, drag the fight into the second half, and control the pace, we might be looking at a genuine middleweight shakeup.

That being said, du Plessis has excellent grappling skills of his own. He holds 11 submission wins in his 23 victories, which computes to a staggering 47.8% of his wins. Only time will tell if Reinier de Ridder is the man to dethrone him, but one thing's certain that this is a very compelling matchup.