Reinier de Ridder is set to move up to the UFC’s light heavyweight division, a decision driven as much by performance as by practicality.
After a blistering start to life in the UFC (four wins in the space of just nine months), de Ridder’s momentum at middleweight has stalled. Back-to-back losses to Brendan Allen and Caio Borralho prompted the Dutchman to reassess his approach, with the strain of repeated weight cuts emerging as a key factor.
Now, the former two-division ONE champion is embracing a return to 205 pounds, a division where he previously found considerable success.
Speaking in a video posted to his YouTube channel on Sunday, de Ridder (21-4 MMA, 4-2 UFC) detailed the physical toll of competing at middleweight and how much of his preparation revolved around making the limit.
“The last two camps…basically the last six to eight weeks, I'm fully focused on dieting,” de Ridder said. “Can't eat anything crazy for a long time and even the healthy stuff I eat, I need to be very, very careful with, just to be able to get close to my weight. It'll be a lot easier and hopefully I'll have a lot more energy in training camp as well.”
The issue, he explained, extended beyond discipline…it became a cumulative burden on his body.
“At middleweight, I would get up to like 215 pounds, or, on fight night, like 96 kilos something like that,” he said. “But I think the weight cut got worse and worse every time I did it. It was just a big stress on my body.”
By contrast, de Ridder pointed to his experience in ONE Championship, where hydration testing protocols significantly limit extreme weight cutting. That system allowed him to compete closer to his natural weight, particularly during his run at light heavyweight.
“In ONE, I used to fight at 205. So, all my fights were at 205 because we kind of didn't do weight cuts there,” he said. “They kind of tried to stop people from cutting weight with hydration tests and everything. My natural walk around weight was like 210 at the time, so like 95 kilos something like that. So I wouldn't really cut weight. I would just eat a little less the few days before and make 205 or 93 kilos very easily.”
The move back to light heavyweight now represents both a strategic reset and a return to familiar territory. With less emphasis on drastic weight management, de Ridder is betting that improved energy levels and more efficient training camps will translate into better performances inside the Octagon.
