The UFC has signed former two-division ONE world champion Reinier de Ridder.
First announced via the UFC Roster Tracker account on X, de Ridder’s signing has been confirmed by multiple outlets, including both MMA Junkie and MMA Fighting. According to the reports, ‘The Dutch Knight’ has signed a multi-fight deal with the organization, though the promotion has not formally announced the signing.
De Ridder, 34, previously held both the ONE middleweight and light heavyweight world championships. He fought nine times for the promotion, going 9-2 with losses coming via back-to-back defeats against Russian star Anatoly Malykhin. Before that, he’d earned noteworthy wins over a handful of former ONE champions, including Aung La N Sang, Kiamrian Abbasov, and Vitaly Bigdash, and boasted a solid 71% finish rate with four submissions and one knockout against seven victories.
Reinier de Ridder has already earned a win outside of ONE Championship
Following his ONE Championship exit over the summer, de Ridder climbed back into the win column under the UAE Warriors banner in July, scoring a first-round knockout against Magomedmurad Khasaev.
The jiu-jitsu black belt will reportedly compete at 185 pounds when he makes his Octagon debut.