Holland Vs. De Ridder Betting Odds, Prediction

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight talents Kevin Holland vs. Reiner de Ridder will go to war this weekend (Sat., Jan. 18, 2025) at UFC 311 from Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.

At this point, “Trailblazer” feels fairly locked in as a fun action fighter who doesn’t quite have what it takes to contend. After his Welterweight win streak went up in smoke, Holland appears content to bounce around weight classes and take paychecks wherever there’s opportunity. He’s skilled enough to make it work, even if that’s a difficult way to build momentum.

De Ridder accomplished great things in One Championship, capturing two titles at one point. His back-and-forth UFC debut versus Gerald Meerschaert, however, demonstrated both his strengths and weaknesses in a rather chaotic affair. Still, he got the job done via third round finish (watch highlights), and another win here could see “The Dutch Knight” score ranked competition next.

Let’s take a closer look at the betting odds and strategic keys for each athlete:

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Holland vs. de Ridder Betting Odds

• Kevin Holland victory: -130
• Kevin Holland via TKO/KO/DQ: TBD
• Kevin Holland via submission: TBD
• Kevin Holland via decision: TBD
• Reinier de Ridder victory: +110
• Reinier de Ridder via TKO/KO/DQ: TBD
• Reinier de Ridder via submission: TBD
• Reinier de Ridder via decision: TBD
• Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

How Holland Wins

Kevin Holland is a scrapper. The jiu-jitsu black belt has a funky stand up style built primarily on the strength of a cracking 1-2, dangerous clinch work, and sneaky range kick setups. Wrestling has been a problem for him in the past, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to drag “Trailblazer” to the floor.

The style match up here is rather clear-cut: striker vs. grappler. Black belt or no, Holland doesn’t want to wrestle on the floor with an expert grappler who has submitted plenty of Light Heavyweights. Scrambling with the Dutch grappler would be a bad idea …

Fortunately, Holland has the takedown defense to deny his foe more often than not, and his punching is so much cleaner and snappier. De Ridder is used to a range advantage, but Holland’s long arms should be able to find the chin with great effectiveness. He’ll want to avoid a brawl — de Ridder can crack too and will look for takedowns in the chaos — but exchanges in the pocket will greatly favor Holland in the long run.

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

How de Ridder Wins

Reinier de Ridder is a gamer. His stand up may be a little awkward and his defense iffy, but the man knows how to stay in the pocket and return the favor with his own punches. More importantly, he’s quite good at using that chaos to enter on takedowns and impose his jiu-jitsu advantage.

There’s a real chance “RDR” can just run over Holland on the mat here. He’s spent time up at 205-pounds and is facing a man who can consistently make Welterweight. He’s going to have a size and strength advantage, which is usually a huge deal when combined with a grappling edge.

As such, I’d like to see “The Dutch Knight” push hard right away. There’s no point in hanging back and getting poked by heavy 1-2s. He might as well be crashing forward into the clinch firing his own punches and trying to extend his combos with kicks and knees, Fabricio Werdum-style. If he can get Holland to respect his stand up offense, the takedown is even more likely to come.

Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images

Holland vs. de Ridder Prediction

This is a tough one for me. On one hand, Kevin Holland is not the most trustworthy fighters. He doesn’t always make the best decisions, and I worry that his hectic schedule may be catching up to him. Simultaneously, Reinier de Ridder is a deeply flawed fighter. His striking and wrestling have serious gaps, and those issues will be punished brutally by top UFC Middleweights.

Does Holland take advantage of de Ridder’s woeful defense or does the bigger man steamroll the smaller one on the mat? Both situations could reasonably play out, but I’ll hesitantly side with Holland on the strength of his elite experience. He’s only lost to fighters better than de Ridder, and he should be able to time that 1-2 sooner than later.

Prediction: Holland via knockout

---

Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 311 fight card right here, starting with the ESPN+/ESPNEWS “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, before the main card start time at 10 p.m. ET (also on ESPN+).

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 311: “Makhachev vs. Tsarukyan 2” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.