UFC president Dana White is usually the first to know about any new signings, but this one seems to have caught him by surprise. The UFC recently added Reinier de Ridder, a two-weight world champion from ONE Championship to their roster, and White admitted he had no clue it even happened! Known for his dominance in the cage, de Ridder’s move to the UFC also has fans buzzing.
When asked about the signing at the presser following this week’s Tuesday Night Contender Series, White confessed, “Sh*t I don’t know about that!” It’s not every day the UFC president gets blindsided like this, and it just goes to show how fast things are moving in the company.
“Shit I don’t know about that. You have to ask Sean and Mick about that.”
Dana White says he had no idea the UFC signed Reinier de Ridder ‼️♂️ pic.twitter.com/WQRMnJOtVZ
— MMA Homie Podcast (@theMMAhomies) September 25, 2024
So yes, Reinier de Ridder is now officially a UFC fighter with multiple sources also confirmeing that “The Dutch Knight” has signed with the promotion.
The news broke after a tweet from the Roster Tracker account on Tuesday, though there’s no word yet on when or against whom de Ridder will make his octagon debut. De Ridder (17-2) last fought in July, delivering a first-round knockout at UAE Warriors.
This was his first fight since leaving ONE Championship, where he had built an impressive record of 7-2. Known for his grappling prowess, de Ridder made waves by defeating two-division champ Aung La N Sang twice to claim both titles. However, he lost those belts in back-to-back fights against Anatoly Malykhin.
Now, all these accomplishments, while still having age on his side has made RDR one of the latest big free agent signings that the UFC has made in recent times.
Take no prisoners in the free market
The UFC is the biggest MMA promotion in the world by far, which allows them a lot of luxuries including the ability to tempt away the biggest stars from other promotions.
This has been a recurring theme in the last 12 months. The first major signing was Michael ‘Venom’ Page from Bellator. Since his signing, Page has fought a few times in the UFC.
This was followed by the signing of Kayla Harrison, the biggest name in the PFL. Harrison is currently preparing for her third fight with the promotion and is soon expected to fight for the title and is likely not even going in as the underdog. The two time Olympic gold medalist’s infleunce is such that even the great one, Amanda Nunes seems to be willing to come out of retirement to fight her.
And now, RDR is the most recent signing, which puts out a clear message that the UFC is not slowing down anytime soon.
Although, there are still a lot of criticisms about the way the company is conducting business. UFC fighters are still not allowed to have individual sponsors, which makes it impossible for the company to build homegrown superstars. And the ones that pop up are either legacy fighters and if they aren’t, then the superstars are few and far between.
So, it will be interesting to see how these talents are dealt with now.
