UFC 311 just got to witness the kind of fighter Reinier De Ridder is. He dominated the fight against Kevin Holland and won via a rear naked choke in the very first round. Needless to say, the former 2-division ONE Champion proved why he deserves a high-profile matchup for his next UFC appearance. 

De Ridder didn’t waste any time to shoot a takedown. After Holland’s trial of submitting RDR with an armbar failed miserably, De Ridder sent forth elbows to Holland’s chest, and soon, one of his strikes cut open ‘Trailblazer’s right eye. ‘The Dutch Knight’ executed the experience he collected at ONE Championship and took control of Holland, finally working his way to a rear naked choke. When the clock struck 3:31, Holland was left with no choice but to tap out. 

As soon as the fight was concluded, the fighting realm began praising the former ONE champion. However, dominating the Octagon against Gerald Meerschaert in his debut and then Holland tonight gave RDR the confidence to ask for a top 5 contender (and jokingly congratulate Joe Rogan on not mispronouncing his name). De Ridder was confident in the work he was doing at Kill Cliff FC with Henry Hooft.

Back in November 2024, De Ridder called out Bo Nickal and Khamzat Chimaev as prospective opponents who had his attention. So his UFC 311 performance earned him the confidence of fans in chasing down the American prodigy.

Nickal had to say the following back in November, “Yeah, I watched his fight, I mean, He’s got a good record. He’s definitely, you know, a lot stronger in the jiujitsu department than the striking department. I think he’s honestly very similar to Paul Craig, he has a lot of similarities and the way they fight and it was a good fight, it was a competitive fight. But, I wouldn’t say I was really, like, impressed with it.”

Fans chanted ‘overrated’ as Nickal delivered an underwhelming performance against the veteran Paul Craig at MSG in November 2024. His UFC 309 outing damaged his stock with fans dismissing his chances against big names like Khamzat Chimaev.

But before that, let’s take a look at what the fighting community had to say about the fight between De Ridder and Holland. No doubt, the entire MMA realm was also rallying behind De Ridder’s wish to fight Nickal. 

MMA world pushes Dana White to book Reinier De Ridder against Bo Nickal

Following De Ridder’s first-round submission win at UFC 311, the fight fans went ahead and asked Dana White and Co. to book the fight between ‘The Dutch Knight’ and Bo Nickal. One of the fans tweeted, “Damn.. give him bo nickal.” Another fan rallied behind and wrote, “book it dana  #UFC311.” It was indeed a fight to make, with fans asking for an end to Nickal’s hype train. A fan wrote, “Let him end the Bo Nickal hype first.” One more fan added, “De Riddler vs Bo Nickal. MAKE IT HAPPEN.”

However, the UFC world also began to bash Kevin Holland for the unfortunate defeat. The UFC welterweight champion, Belal Muhammad weighed in on the fight and claimed, “That was too easy” Well, De Ridder was indeed looking much stronger than Holland. And Holland’s decision to expect a striking with a prolific grappler backfired royally. This was not Stephen Thompson he was dealing with. It seems like Holland needs to focus on winning fights rather than delivering entertaining ones. He requested no early takedowns from De Ridder but the Dutchman came with a plan and followed through.

On the other hand, Dillon Danis decided to bash ‘Trailblazer’ for his poor performance. He tweeted, “Cut Kevin Holland’s bum ass he’s a literally trash can.” It did seem like De Ridder’s experience against Anatoly Malykhin finally paid off. After all, defeating someone like Holland this easily is nothing short of a commendable feat.

Did the fight proceed as per your prediction? Drop down to the comments section and let us know how you feel about the fight.