Reinier de Ridder introduced the hype round Bo Nickal to a staggering halt on Saturday after scoring a brutal physique shot knockout to finish the UFC Des Moines co-main occasion in dramatic trend.
In a battle that was billed as wrestling in opposition to grappling, de Ridder confirmed off his superior hanging as he repeatedly battered Nickal with knees each time they engaged within the clinch. The fixed barrage paid off with de Ridder lining up a devastating knee that crushed Nickal to the physique as he tried to maneuver away and as an alternative he crumbled to the canvas.
The referee rushed in to cease the competition with the tip coming at 1:53 within the second spherical as de Ridder ends Nickal’s undefeated run to start out his profession.
“I used to be simply going to say, I’ve been spending a lot time within the U.S., I needed to see if I used to be nonetheless Dutch,” de Ridder joked about his hanging to arrange the knockout.
“I needed to say that is the most effective American wrestling you’ve, proper? Now provide the finest American striker. [Sean] Strickland, you’re up, buddy! Let’s go.”
Previous to his callout, de Ridder was truly already displaying superior management as he stored irritating Nickal in each aspect of the battle.
When the motion began it was Nickal throwing heavy fingers however de Ridder was continuously threatening with the takedown because the middleweights battled for place in opposition to the cage. Nickal ultimately scored a slick reversal to pull the battle to the canvas however de Ridder scrambled out of a guillotine choke try to then land on high.
From there, de Ridder maintained management for just a few moments however Nickal ultimately labored his approach free to get again to the ft.
Because the battle moved into the second spherical, de Ridder as soon as once more welcomed the clinch as he began launching some exhausting knees to the physique. Nickal appeared labored in his motion as he struggled to keep up place however he was nonetheless winging huge punches whereas attempting to again de Ridder off.
Sadly it didn’t work as de Ridder fired proper again at him with extra precision together with the huge knee strike up the center that linked on to Nickal’s midsection. The three-time NCAA champion wrestler quick dropped the canvas and referee Mike Beltran jumped into cease the battle to stop him from receiving additional punishment.
It was an enormous second for de Ridder as he moved to 3-0 within the UFC however extra importantly he scored a victory over one of the extremely touted prospects in current historical past.
Now he may truly get to choose his shot, particularly with de Ridder already calling for a battle in opposition to a former champion in Sean Strickland.
