One fight after dispatching one of the
Ultimate Fighting Championship’s most highly-touted prospects,
Reinier
de Ridder will get the opportunity to face a respected former
champion.
The Las Vegas-based promotion announced on Satuday that the former
ONE
Championship two-division title holder will square off against
Robert
Whittaker in the
UFC Abu Dhabi headliner on July 26 at Etihad Arena. The main
card is expected to air on ABC and ESPN+ at 3 p.m. ET/noon PT.
De Ridder has been victorious in 20 of 22 professional outings,
with his lone two defeats coming via TKO against Anatoly
Malykhin under the ONE banner. “The Dutch Knight” has kicked
off his Octagon tenure in style, earning finishes against Gerald
Meerschaert, Kevin
Holland and Nickal. De Ridder has secured 18 of his 20 career
triumphs inside the distance, including 13 via submission.
A former 185-pound champion, Whittaker has remained near the top of
the division despite not holding the belt since 2019. “The Reaper”
is coming off a first-round submission loss to current No. 1
contender Khamzat
Chimaev at UFC 308 this past October. His resume includes
notable triumphs over the likes of Paulo
Costa, Marvin
Vettori, Kelvin
Gastelum, Jared
Cannonier, Darren Till,
Yoel
Romero (twice) and Ronaldo
Souza, among others.