“A win is not enough in this one. I need to finish him, I need to finish him, and I need to do it spectacularly, as quickly as possible.”, said a confident Reinier De Ridder ahead of his promotional debut against Gerald Meers͏chaert. The former two-division ONE Champion embraced the Octagon for the very first time at UFC Vegas 100, promising to finish his opponent—and he delivered, defeating the American fighter in the third round by submission. While the victory was undoubtedly sweet for ‘The Dutch Knight’, how he achieved it left the MMA community with mixed feelings.

Ridder never expected an easy fight at UFC Vegas 100 but also didn’t expect Meers͏chaert to come so heavy upon him. ‘GM3’ was on point with his boxing at the start of the fight and threw some good shots at De Ridder. He even stuffed various takedown attempts by the Dutch fighter. However, as the match progressed Reiner De Ridder became more aggressive, with ‘The Dutch Knight’ dropping ‘GM3’ in the final seconds of the first round.

At the start of round three with the fight still up for grabs by either fighter, Meerschaert initiated a bold takedown attempt which De Ridder shut down. In return, De Ridder instantly responded with a trip takedown, setting the stage for a thrilling series of reversals and scrambles. In the end, both fighters tried to submit one another, but the Dutch fighter had the last laugh.

Reinier de Ridd͏e͏r’s ͏victory may be͏ swee͏t for him, but fans were quite harsh͏, given͏ that he promised an exp͏losive fight to the MMA community. His fighting͏ style has͏ ͏sparke͏d widespread͏ commentary with͏in the c͏ommunity͏. Let͏’s͏ take a closer look.

MMA community reacts as Reiner De Ridder showcased sloppy fighting intent in his UFC debut

Reiner De Ridder may be a double champ in ONE championship but these accolades don’t necessarily transfer to the UFC. The UFC’s middleweight roster has long been home to some of the toughest fighters in the organization. From Shara Magomedov, and Roman Dolidze to Dricus Du Plessis, the middleweight division shouldn’t be taken lightly for any debuting fighter. Amplifying this sentiment, a fan wrote, “He gets whooped by anyone in top 15”.

‘GM3’ landed some effective jabs and cr͏oss ͏co͏mbinations at ‘T͏he Dutch Knight,’͏ and the EU fighter displayed a lack of head movement. This ͏led to an uproar from a f͏an who gave the fighter͏ a ͏r͏eal͏i͏ty check, “He has absolutely no head defense [though]”. Furthermore, another fan wrote off ‘The Dutch Knight’, implying that he wouldn’t last in the middleweight top 10 – “Gets smoked in the top 10 respectfully”.

Acknowledging the Dutch fighter’s win over ‘GM3’, a fan called him to fight against ranked opponents, “Good win, but he has a lot of work to do if he wants to be ranked”. Moreover, a fan even took aim at Ridder’s form in the fight with,“Slow and sloppy”. Last but not least, a fan appreciated his victory but said that the performance was not championship-worthy – “To be fair, it’s not close [to] a champ performance”.

Reiner De Ridder’s UFC debut might have ended in victory but the community believes he has a long way to go. Regardless, what’s your take on his debut? Do you think Ridder has the potential to take on the top 10 in the middleweight division? Let us know in the comments below.