Written by Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Reinier de Ridder knew beating a former UFC champion like Robert Whittaker would get him a lot of attention and plenty of callouts from fighters who suddenly wanted to challenge him.
Perhaps chief among them is one-time title challenger Paulo Costa, who stopped a two-fight skid with a decision win over Roman Kopylov at UFC 318, and he immediately started launching insults at de Ridder following his win over Whittaker. Even days later, Costa was still going on his tirade on social media but it turns out many of his responses were directed at a fake account that didn’t actually belong to de Ridder.
That account was eventually suspended but de Ridder couldn’t help but laugh at Costa’s antics as he sought attention for his online matchmaking skills.
“He really, really wants that fight I think,” de Ridder told MMA Fighting. “He really wants to set something up. Keep trying. Keep trying, Paulo. You’ll get there.”
Beating Whittaker — a feat Costa didn’t accomplish when he had the same fight back in 2024 — put de Ridder near the top of the middleweight division rankings and likely no more than one win away from a title shot.
Actually given the buzz he’s received with a perfect 4-0 record since joining the UFC roster, which now includes wins over Whittaker and highly touted prospect Bo Nickal, there’s definitely a world where de Ridder gets a shot at gold in his next fight.
That’s why he’s not sweating callouts from Costa or anybody else right now because de Ridder has bigger goals in his mind.
“He would be a fun buildup,” de Ridder said about fighting Costa. “Would be very fun in the press conference and everything with Paulo because he’s a character. But right now I don’t think he’s there.”
With a 2-4 record in Costa’s past six fights, it’s difficult to argue with de Ridder’s assessment, especially knowing how close he could be to a title shot.
While he’s remained incredibly active ever since signing with the UFC following a tenuous breakup with ONE Championship, de Ridder admits he’s ready for a little break and maybe a vacation. In the meantime, UFC middleweight king Dricus du Plessis is defending his title against Khamzat Chimaev in the UFC 319 main event, which is a fight de Ridder definitely plans on watching.
“Every time since I joined the UFC, I had a fight lined up three days after the last fight,” de Ridder said. “But I don’t think it’s going to be like that this time. It will take a couple of weeks, I want to see at least the Khamzat-Dricus fight first and then we’ll see what happens. We’ll see. I think that’s smart to hold back for a little bit.
“It’s been four fights in eight months. I would definitely like to spend some time at the beach, eat some nice barbecue, have a good time with the kids and the wife. That’s what I’m looking for right now but I can never stay inactive for too long. I might be in the gym sooner rather than later, but it would be nice to chill a bit as well.”
A five-round war ending in a win over an established veteran like Whittaker has de Ridder in a very good position for the future. He’s also finally getting the recognition he deserves after his win over Nickal largely got overshadowed by the former Penn State wrestler suffering his first loss.
Now de Ridder has taken a dramatic step forward in the rankings and he knows the champion walking out of UFC 319 has to pay attention to him now.
“I’m top five right now as far as I know,” de Ridder said. “I’m coming up there. Give me a couple weeks to recover and let’s see if I can climb any higher.”