Reinier
de Ridder didn’t take long to get his first
Ultimate Fighting Championship opponent.
The former ONE
Championship two-division title holder will square off against
Gerald
Meerschaert in a middleweight bout at UFC Fight Night 247 on
Nov. 9. UFC op Eurosport NL was first to report the booking.
UFC
Fight Night 247 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and
does not currently have a headliner in place.
De Ridder began his professional career with 17 consecutive
triumphs, a run that included a 7-0 start to his ONE tenure. He
bested Aung La N
Sang on two different occasions to become a two-division
champion but would lose both belts to Anatoly
Malykhin in technical knockout defeats. “The Dutch Knight”
fought outside the ONE banner for the first time since 2018 on July
27, when he defeated Magomedmurad
Khasaev via first-round TKO at UAE Warriors 51.
A veteran of 54 professional outings, Meerschaert has finished 29
of his 37 career triumphs by way of submission. “GM3” is coming off
back-to-back submission victories against Bryan
Barberena and Edmen
Shahbazyan in UFC competition.