Reinier de Ridder eyes Bo Nickal and many top UFC middleweights ahead of debut against Gerald Meerschaert

Reinier de Ridder is excited about the thought of fighting many high-level UFC middleweights, and he’s even got his eyes on rising star Bo Nickal.

For de Ridder, time in the UFC spotlight has been a long time coming. The 19-fight veteran will be making his UFC debut against Gerald Meerschaert this Saturday inside the UFC Apex.

While de Ridder says he isn’t looking past Meerschaert, he can’t help but think about potential high-profile matchups.

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Reinier de Ridder Eyes Big Fights, Including Bo Nickal

In an interview with Damon Martin for MMAFighting, Reinier de Ridder joked about taking Paul Craig’s spot to fight Bo Nickal instead.

“Khamzat [Chimaev] and Bo Nickal would both be amazing,” de Ridder said. “[Bo Nickal] might be a nice next step. So maybe we do something to Paul Craig, distract him a little bit and jump in?

“That’s a fun one, right? I’m down for that. So Paul Craig, take a hike.”

Craig will be a stern test for Nickal when the two meet at UFC 309 on November 16th. Both de Ridder and Nickal will be looking to make statements against their seasoned opponents to prove they’re on another level.

If de Ridder is successful against Gerald Meerschaert this weekend, he’s hoping to be catapulted right into the thick of things at 185 pounds.

“Hopefully after this, I’m looking to make a statement in this fight, announce my joining the UFC with a nice performance and then hopefully I’ll get a crack at some top level guys,” de Ridder said. “There’s so many good guys.

“Like [Sean] Strickland, like [Israel] Adesanya, Dricus [du Plessis], we have some history. I fought in the same organization he did. Didn’t get a chance to fight him at that point so hopefully it’s going to be on the biggest stage this time. But even like the entire top 10 are full of killers. There’s a lot of guys that have seen some inactivity. Line them up.”

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