Former ONE titleholder de Ridder signs with UFC

Former ONE Championship two-division titleholder Reinier de Ridder has signed with the UFC and will make his promotional debut against Gerald Meerschaert on Nov. 9, the promotion announced on Wednesday.

De Ridder (17-2) held both the light heavyweight and middleweight titles for ONE Championship simultaneously and went 7-2 with the promotion before departing earlier this year following back-to-back losses to current two-division champion Anatoly Malykhin. De Ridder fought at UAE Warriors in July and stopped Magomedmurad Khasaev in the first round.

Rumors began circulating that de Ridder had inked a deal with the UFC on Tuesday. “The Dutch Knight” confirmed those rumors with a video on his Instagram early Wednesday morning.

“The rumors are true!” he said in a post.

De Ridder, 34, started his MMA career with nine consecutive wins before signing with the Asian-based ONE Championship in 2019. He would win three straight fights to earn a title opportunity against then-two-division champion Aung La Nsang. De Ridder submitted La Nsang to win the promotion’s middleweight title in 2020 and defeated him again in 2021 to capture the light heavyweight title. De Ridder made two successful defenses of the middleweight title before sequentially dropping both titles to Malykin in 2022 and 2024.

De Ridder’s UFC tenure will begin at 185 pounds against Meerschaert (12-9 UFC, 37-17 MMA) at a Fight Night scheduled for Nov. 9 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Meerschaert became the leader for most finishes in UFC middleweight history in August when he submitted Edmen Shahbazyan for his 12th finish at 185 pounds. All twelve of Meerschaert’s UFC wins have come by knockout or submission.