Reinier de Ridder won't pace himself for five rounds in UFC on ABC 9 vs. Robert Whittaker
Despite former middleweight champion Whittaker (26-8 MMA, 17-6 UFC) being well known for his ability to compete over the course of a five-round fight, de Ridder (19-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC) will be looking to flip the script when they meet in Saturday's headliner at Etihad Arena on Yas Island (ABC, ESPN, ESPN+).
Former two-division ONE Championship titleholder de Ridder hasn't needed more than 12 minutes to put away his first three octagon opponents in Gerald Meerschaert, Kevin Holland and Bo Nickal. He got those wins with relentless pressure, and he said it's his only instinct to fight Whittaker the same way.
"Nah (I won't change my approach or pace) – I think that's just kind of what I do," de Ridder told MMA Junkie at Wednesday's UFC on ABC 9 media day. "See if I can get him tired, then the both of us might be tired in the last couple rounds."
De Ridder has the utmost confidence Whittaker will bend or fold under the pressure. The outside world doesn't seem to have as much faith, however, because he currently sits as the betting underdog going into fight night.
That's a familiar spot for de Ridder and one he relishes. The Dutchman has been the underdog each of his three UFC appearances thus far, and those all ended with the referee pulling his off his opponents inside the distance.
It's de Ridder's full expectation that this one ends the same way.
"They didn't get it right last time," de Ridder said. "And they got it wrong this time."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
19 minutes ago
- USA Today
ESPN analyst believes Lamar Jackson is getting closer to a legacy few will ever match
Longtime ESPN voice believes Ravens star Lamar Jackson is on the cusp of immortality They just don't make them like that anymore... Oh yeah! You remember hearing that a time or two. That's one of those nuggets you probably heard while hanging out with dad (or maybe grandad). It was a phrase meant to show appreciation for the 'good old days, when cars were better built and sofas didn't tear up because you sat on them. They don't make them like Baltimore Ravens star Lamar Jackson either. He's a walking evolution at the quarterback position. He's this generation's Randall Cunningham, a right-handed Steve Young or Michael Vick. 'Action Jackson' is special, and he can still play at a high level for several more years. That's good news for Ravens fans everywhere. But, is Lamar Jackson approaching immortality? Jackson's story is still being written, and it's too early to make determinations about when and how it ends. All we can guarantee is this. If he adds another MVP trophy and wins a Super Bowl or two, we'll be talking about Canton and his Pro Football Hall of Fame argument. Recently, the most unique and compelling of words was attached to his name: immortal. Hmmm... It sounds interesting. Don't blame us. Blame ESPN's Mike Greenberg. He's the one who brought this up. Here's what he said on the subject. "For Lamar and Josh Allen, what they're playing for is immortality. Both of them could retire tomorrow, and they'd be in the Hall of Fame. But, if either of them, and we'll use Lamar in this case because that's who we're talking about, wins a championship, all of a sudden he vaults into that place where the conversation on shows like this one are, 'Where does he belong on the list with the great quarterbacks of all time?' Two regular-season MVPs and a Super Bowl starts that conversation." It's interesting... We'll tell you that. Still, nothing says 'immortal' like having one's bust carved and having it placed in the hallowed football shrine in Canton. Jackson has a chance at having that happen. Winning a Lombardi Trophy will certainly help his argument. There are Super Bowl winners who were never enshrined. There are HOF enshrinees who never won 'the chip'. The AFC is loaded, but this season represents Jackson's best opportunity to win a ring. Let that be his and the Ravens' goal this season. Immortality can wait, even if we can make successful arguments for why he's on his way to arriving there.
Boston Globe
19 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
If NFL, ESPN deal is done soon, it will have an immediate impact on how fans consume the most popular sport in the US
Per CNBC, the league is expected to take a 10 percent stake in Disney-owned ESPN, while ESPN would have ownership of NFL Network — including its seven live games per season — and Red Zone. Some other NFL Media properties also may be part of the package, though NFL Films is not expected to be one. The benefits for ESPN are obvious and enormous. ESPN is launching a much-anticipated standalone app in the fall, with the hopes it will revive the network's pre-streaming status as 'The Worldwide Leader in Sports.' Having more NFL content will be nothing short of a gold mine for the direct-to-consumer app, which will cost $29.99 per month. And with the NFL holding a stake in ESPN, it essentially makes the network, as Puck's John Ourand put it, 'a forever partner' with the league, and legitimate security when broadcast and streaming rights are up for bid again. Advertisement The benefits for the NFL? The league has been looking for years to find a way to offload or share its in-house media properties, and there's no better partner than ESPN and its parent company, Disney. From a journalistic standpoint, it's fair to wonder whether the NFL believes there is a side benefit to the deal — the possibility of limiting certain critical reporting on the league, which ESPN has done exceptionally well. Advertisement How this partnership would fully affect you and me won't be totally clear until the deal is complete and the parameters are revealed. But the baseline is this: Much of what you currently enjoy watching on the NFL Network — which will still exist in 24/7 form — will be under the purview of ESPN. And you're probably going to have to pony up for one more pricey streaming service if you want to keep watching all of it. This really is fake news One of the many, many, many scourges of social media — particularly the swamplands of Facebook — is AI-generated content. The vast majority of posts about a pop-culture or sports topic or personality is AI-generated at this point. Some of it seems real. All of it is trash. A more recent trend is phony but believable stories about an athlete doing an extremely good deed. The Sports Hub's Scott Zolak got duped by one recently, passing along on his afternoon show that Patriots quarterback Drake Maye and his wife donated all of the gifts from their recent wedding to local homeless shelters and children's charities. It was the kind of story you want to believe, and plausible to some degree. It also wasn't true. It was a lie concocted and spread by a social media content farm. Advertisement Zolak isn't alone. On Thursday, I noticed a longtime prominent NBA media member share a post on the social media platform Threads that Lions quarterback Jared Goff donated — let's get this concoction right — 'his entire $15.9 million bonus and sponsorship earns to a homeless shelter in Detroit to help fund 150 units [of] housing with 300 shelter beds.' That was followed by a fake Goff quote about seeing homelessness firsthand growing up. Listen, if actual media people can't spot a phony story, it's understandable — if disheartening beyond belief — why so much of this sludge is treated as truth by so many. A word of advice: if a story that seems too good to be true (or, on the opposite end, too scandalous), it probably is. Always check to make sure it is something that has been initially reported by a credible journalist. Preferably with a link to an actual story. Please don't tell me that's too much to ask. Boring or a booming British? Reader Pete G. reached out this week to ask whether Scottie Scheffler's systematic dominance on the PGA Tour, combined with a nature that is somewhat less charismatic than Tiger Woods's in his heyday, has led to a decrease in viewership in the anti-climactic final rounds. 'Watching the 4th round [of the British Open] was so boring and uninteresting,' he wrote. 'He is annoyingly steady and he never ( gives up a lead when he is in the driver's seat.' All true. But golf viewers seem to be digging it, at least according to the viewership numbers from Sunday's final round on NBC. Nielsen reported 4.1 million viewers for the fourth round, which was up 21 percent from the final round of Xander Schauffele's victory a year ago. Even without much suspense — Scheffler finished at 17 under par to win by four strokes — golf fans stuck around to watch him complete his fourth major victory and second this year. Advertisement McAfee apologizes — five months later Sentient monster truck Pat McAfee apologized Wednesday on his eponymous ESPN show to a female Ole Miss student, a mere five months after carelessly amplifying a false rumor that sent her life into chaos. McAfee being McAfee, he did it in the most self-aggrandizing way possible, including deploying the phrase/shield, 'As a girl dad,'' which is almost always followed by an apology for some behavior that humiliated a woman. 'Girl dads' fear lawsuits too, I'd imagine. "As a Girl Dad, I was very thankful for the opportunity to let Mr. Cornett know that I was wildly regretful for the part that our show played in his daughter, Mary Kate's, pain." - Pat McAfee apologizing for sharing a false rumor about an 18-year-old Ole Miss student on his show. — Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) Chad Finn can be reached at
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
UFC Fight Night Whittaker vs. De Ridder: Time, how to watch UFC from Abu Dhabi
Robert Whittaker will face Reinier De Ridder face off in a middleweight bout at UFC Fight Night at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, July 26. Whittaker enters the ring with a record of 27 wins and 8 losses. He aims to turn things around in his first fight of 2025, following his last match, which ended in a first-round submission loss to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 308 in October 2024. On the other hand, De Ridder has a record of 20 wins and two losses and is currently on a four-fight winning streak, and will be considered Whittaker's toughest test to date. This fight will mark De Ridder's third of the year, following victories over Kevin Holland at UFC 311 in January and Bo Nickal at UFC Fight Night in May 2025. Here is how to watch UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. De Ridder on Saturday from Abu Dhabi: UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs De Ridder: Predictions, odds, how to watch UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. De Ridder UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. De Ridder will take place in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, July 26. How to watch UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. De Ridder UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. De Ridder coverage starts at noon ET on ESPN, ESPN+ and Disney+, with the main card beginning at 3 p.m. ET on ABC, ESPN+ and Disney+.
