Reinier de Ridder improves to 2-0 in the UFC, submits Kevin Holland at UFC 311
Reinier de Ridder impresses to open up UFC 311 main card
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to us tonight, January 18, 2025, for UFC 311, going down live from the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.
Headlining the event is a lightweight championship bout between Islam Makhachev (26-1) and no. 10 ranked Renato Moicano (20-5-1), a last-minute replacement for the champion as no. 1 ranked Arman Tsarukyan (22-3) suffered an injury just yesterday, forcing him from the highly anticipated rematch.
Co-headlining the event is a bantamweight title bout between Merab Dvalishvili (18-4) and no. 2 ranked Umar Nurmagomedov (18-0).
Opening up the UFC 311 main card tonight was a middleweight affair between Kevin Holland (26-13) and former ONE middleweight and light-heavyweight champion Reinier de Ridder (19-2).
Holland came into the bout off a 1-2 year in 2024, suffering a defeat to Michael Page (UD) in March, before defeating Michal Oleksiejczuk (armbar) in his return to 185 lbs back in June, and then losing to Roman Dolidze (injury) in his latest appearance in October.
De Ridder on the other hand just made his promotional debut in November when he submitted Gerald Meerschaert (arm-triangle choke), the man with the most submission victories in UFC middleweight history.
Continue reading to see how our UFC 311 main card opener went down:
De Ridder secured an early single leg about 10 seconds into the fight and assumed top position. Holland immediately went for a triangle choke, landing a few good hammer fists from bottom as de Ridder escaped it.
De Ridder reigned down some good ground and pound from top before a scramble ensued, de Ridder beautifully taking Holland’s back where he soon after locked in a rear naked choke, forcing the tap and securing his second UFC victory in just over two months.
Official Result: Reinier de Ridder def. Kevin Holland via submission (rear naked choke) at 3:31 of round one
Reinier de Ridder improves to 2-0 inside the octagon tonight at UFC 311, both of those wins coming via submission over BJJ black belts.
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