Reinier de Ridder believes the move to light heavyweight could finally allow him to show the UFC what he is capable of at full capacity.
The former two-division ONE Championship world champion makes his return to 205lbs this Saturday at UFC Sacramento, where he faces Roman Dolidze in a clash between two middleweights moving up in search of a fresh start.
For de Ridder, however, this is about considerably more than simply changing weight classes.
It is about getting his body (and his career) back on track.
Speaking ahead of Saturday's fight, de Ridder was unusually candid about the physical toll of competing at middleweight, revealing that his experience making 185lbs eventually became unsustainable.
“It’s so nice to eat food, dude,” de Ridder said with a laugh when asked how he was feeling ahead of his light heavyweight debut.
“It’s so nice to be able to get some carbs. Quality of life.”
The Dutchman had already made the decision to leave middleweight following his two-fight skid, but the severity of the problems he experienced during his time at 185lbs was laid bare when he reflected on his fight with Brendan Allen.
“That was a pretty eye-opening experience,” he said.
“My body failed me. It was over and then I tried once more, but still didn’t feel great.
“Just everything went to shit. All my values and my blood were bad. Just everything was shit at a point.”
De Ridder's UFC career had begun spectacularly. After joining the promotion in 2024, he rattled off four consecutive victories, including wins over Bo Nickal and former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker, putting himself firmly into title contention. He subsequently suffered consecutive defeats to Brendan Allen and Caio Borralho.
But while those results told one story, de Ridder believes there was another story happening behind the scenes.
By the time he reached his final middleweight weight cut, he had already made up his mind.
“In that last weight cut, I was already saying, ‘This is the last time. I’m never going to do this again.’”
‘I’m Just Happy I Can Show Off’
De Ridder has competed at 205lbs before, including during his championship-winning run outside the UFC, but he says the circumstances are very different now.
When he fought at 205lbs previously, he was naturally much closer to the limit.
“I would weigh like 210 and I would cut down to 205 by just working out a little bit and eating a bit less carbs and salt,” he explained.
“So it was very easy. I didn’t have to do anything.”
Years of competing at middleweight changed that equation.
“Now, eating all this American food for years, I’m at around 225 normally in training camp,” he said. “So I’m still cutting like 20 pounds.”
Yet despite that sizeable cut, de Ridder believes the difference between preparing for 205lbs and preparing for 185lbs has been enormous.
His recovery has improved. His training has improved. Most importantly, he says, he can finally push himself in the areas of MMA that made him such a dangerous fighter in the first place.
“I’m just happy that I can show off and I’m getting close to being 100% in the cage again,” he said.
“We’ve seen fighters make the jump up in weight class over the years and then really blossom,” he was told. “Is that how you’re feeling here?”
“Yeah, 100%,” came the answer.
“I’m just happy that I can go hard in grappling. I can work hard to take somebody down. My sparring rounds have been so good lately.”
That ability to train at full intensity has been particularly important for a fighter whose game is built around pressure, grappling and sustained physical output.
De Ridder says the difference has been immediately noticeable.
“Everything is great. Recovery has been great in every session,” he said.
“I’ve been pushing hard twice a day for eight weeks basically. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to train this hard.”
A Different Kind of Fight
The matchup with Dolidze also gives de Ridder an intriguing introduction to the new division.
Both men are making the move to 205lbs at the same time, meaning neither has the obvious size or experience advantage that might exist if a middleweight were facing an established light heavyweight.
“I think that gives me some more time to adjust,” de Ridder said. “Give me some more time after this fight as well to try and put on some more mass.
“So, yeah, I’m very happy with this matchup.”
Dolidze is no easy first assignment. The Georgian has spent years competing around the UFC's middleweight rankings and has previous experience at light heavyweight, including a 2024 victory over Anthony Smith.
De Ridder recognises the threat, but he isn't particularly interested in dwelling on it.
“He’s a vet. He’s been around forever. He’s been at the top 10 in middleweight for a long time,” he said.
“He knows how to grapple. He’s pretty strong.
“But I don’t give a f*** about what he brings to the table at the moment.”
The reason?
“I’m just happy that I can show off.”
The Five-Round Grind Is Gone
There is another major change awaiting de Ridder on Saturday: the fight is scheduled for three rounds.
That may sound insignificant compared with the 185-to-205lb jump, but for a fighter who has repeatedly headlined UFC events, the difference in preparation is considerable.
De Ridder has spent much of his UFC run preparing for five-round fights while simultaneously putting his body through punishing weight cuts.
Now, he can concentrate on a 15-minute sprint.
“Deadly,” he said when asked how it feels.
“It’s only three rounds, so this is great.”
The shorter format also gives him more freedom to attack with the grappling-heavy style that he feels he has been unable to fully display during some of his recent fights.
“I just want to show Saturday — and this is what I’ve been working on as well — show all the stuff I’ve always done well,” he said.
“Show off my clinch game, show off my grappling a lot. And this is what I want to show off.”
What He Learned From Two Straight Losses
De Ridder isn't pretending the move to 205lbs magically erases the setbacks of the past year.
He enters Sacramento having lost his last two fights, but he believes the Caio Borralho bout in particular demonstrated how compromised he had become physically.
“Caio played very well, played his game very well,” de Ridder said.
“But I noticed that I was just not able to push the way I normally can.
“It was hard for me to push in the grappling aspect.”
That is precisely what he wants to change on Saturday.
‘I Still Want to Be Very Active’
The Dutchman isn't thinking about easing his way into light heavyweight, either.
If anything, his ambitions remain as aggressive as ever.
“I still want to be very active,” he said.
“I think activity is a very useful and very valuable thing in the company.”
His immediate plan is simple.
“The plan is to put him away Saturday spectacularly,” he said, “and then get back to a top-10 guy.”
Asked whether he already had a name in mind for the post-fight callout, de Ridder smiled.
“Yeah, well, I’ll keep it to myself for a bit.”
Whatever happens against Dolidze, the former ONE champion appears convinced that 205lbs is where he belongs.
Asked whether he wished he had started his UFC career at light heavyweight, knowing what he knows now, de Ridder refused to dwell on the road not taken.
“Nah. I don’t look at life like that,” he said.
“It’s just shit happens, and every loss or every win is an opportunity to make it a positive or a negative.”
And despite the difficult stretch, he has no regrets about where his career has taken him.
“It made me end up here,” he said. “I’m very happy where I’m at in my life.”
Then came the blunt conclusion.
“And it’s time to kill [him] on Saturday.”
For de Ridder, Saturday's fight represents the beginning of a new chapter. But perhaps more importantly, it represents the opportunity to find out what he looks like when he isn't fighting his own body as much as his opponent.
“I’m looking forward to this next chapter,” he said.
And after everything that happened at 185lbs, that may be the most revealing thing about his move to 205.
