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Last night's UFC event saw Reinier de Ridder pick up the biggest win of his octagon career to date. 'The Dutch Knight' knocked out highly-touted prospect Bo Nickal in the second round.
Few fans expected Reinier de Ridder to defeat Bo Nickal, who was seen as a potential title contender. So what's next for the Dutch fighter?
Right now, de Ridder is ranked No.13 in the middleweight division, and although Nickal was not ranked prior to this bout, he still had a strong reputation.
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This could mean a big fight is now on the horizon for 'The Dutch Knight'. So with that in mind, who is next for Reinier de Ridder?
Reinier de Ridder next fight: What's next for him after his win over Bo Nickal?
Reinier de Ridder is unlikely to climb up the middleweight rankings following his win over Bo Nickal. That's because, despite his reputation, Nickal was not ranked in the top fifteen at 185 pounds.
Even if he remains at No.13, though, de Ridder will probably be offered a big fight next time out.
The win over Nickal was his third in a row in the octagon, following previous finishes of Gerald Meerschaert and Kevin Holland.
It's arguable that it was his most impressive, too. 'The Dutch Knight' was criticised for a sloppy approach against Meerschaert, while Holland has always been an inconsistent fighter.
For de Ridder to knock Nickal out, though, showed that he's a very real threat to anyone at 185 pounds. We now know he can grapple and strike effectively and can finish foes anywhere.
Given de Ridder is 34 years old and has more than a decade of professional MMA experience, then, it's probably not worth playing things slowly with him. Instead, the UFC's matchmakers should shunt him up the ladder to see if he can sink or swim.
Reinier de Ridder is probably not a big enough name just yet to face anyone in the top five. This rules out stars like Robert Whittaker, Sean Strickland and Israel Adesanya, even if he called out 'Tarzan' last night.
However, both Jared Cannonier and Marvin Vettori are former title challengers, and either one would be a fair match for de Ridder.
To add to them, Anthony Hernandez and Roman Dolidze are also ranked above de Ridder and are coming off big recent wins.
Of those four, we can perhaps rule out Vettori. 'The Italian Dream' fell to defeat in his last bout against Dolidze, and the UFC doesn't like to match fighters coming off losses against ones coming off wins.
Looking at the other three, Hernandez is on the longest winning streak - seven fights - and like Reinier de Ridder, he is a well-rounded fighter with dangerous skills everywhere.
However, Cannonier almost certainly has the most name value, and 'The Killa Gorilla' is also the highest-ranked of the three at No.7.
Moreover, at the age of 41, Cannonier might be coming towards the end of his octagon career, meaning 'The Dutch Knight' might be hopeful of picking up a win over him.
With that in mind, Reinier de Ridder vs. Jared Cannonier would be the best option for the Dutch middleweight, but a bout with either Hernandez or Dolidze could work too.
