Reinier de Ridder extends training invitation to Bo Nickal after UFC Des Moines victory
Rising middleweight contender Reinier de Ridder expressed an interest in training with Bo Nickal. De Ridder handed Nickal his first professional MMA defeat at the recent UFC Des Moines event, delivering a vicious second-round knockout.
In a recent interview with veteran MMA journalist Damon Martin, de Ridder stated his desire to train alongside Nickal. Nickal is a three-time NCAA Division I national champion wrestler, and his skill set seeingly interests de Ridder, who said:
"I would really like to work with this guy... Because of the skill set he brings, it would be awesome to train together."
That said, de Ridder acknowledged that their training at rival camps could be a hurdle in joining hands:
"I don't know if me being a Kill Cliff guy and him being an American Top Team guy is going to work out, but maybe we should do lowkey and not tell anybody."
Check out Reinier de Ridder's comments below:
For context, the American Top Team and the erstwhile Blackzillians training camps were embroiled in fierce rivalry in the 2010s. After the disbandment of Blackzillians due to various factors, its head coaches, Henry Hooft and Greg Jones, established the Kill Cliff FC. While there doesn't appear to be an open conflict between the two camps, some tension remains underneath the surface.
MMA Analyst theorizes how Reinier de Ridder's team figured out the path to beating Bo Nickal
Veteran MMA analyst Luke Thomas, in his UFC Des Moines breakdown video, explained how Reinier de Ridder's team capitalized on Bo Nickal's lack of high-level MMA experience to throw him off his game.
Reflecting on de Ridder's performance, Thomas said:
"RDR basically walked across the cage and told Bo Nickal, 'You're about to have a bad day.' Just took control of it. Got in his face, unafraid of the contact, made him fight on his terms - Even for sh** that didn't work."
Thomas highlighted that a pressure-heavy strategy is often the most effective against younger and less experienced fighters in the regional circuits, implying that de Ridder's team could have employed a similar appraoch agaisnt Nickal. He added:
"(RDR's team planned to) make (Nickal) answer for the offence, and do it all the time with no break. Don't let him settle at all. If he stops one, try another one... Do this the whole time because they knew this guy didn't have the experience to know what to do in those scenarios and did not have his game ironed out." [12:42]
Check out Luke Thomas' comments below (12:36):