Reinier de Ridder believes he has a “good shot” at beating Khamzat Chimaev after training with him

Reinier de Ridder is confident he would be able to hand Khamzat Chimaev his first career loss after handing Bo Nickal his first defeat.

De Ridder pulled off an upset win on Saturday as he scored a TKO win over Nickal at UFC Des Moines. It was a stunning result that should get the de Ridder a top-10, if not a top-five, opponent next.

After the win, de Ridder called out Sean Strickland. Although his focus is on that, he knows he could also be closing in on a fight against Khamzat Chimaev, which he thinks he’d do well in.

“That’s one that I see happening pretty quickly. I know we’ve had some rounds together. I think I have a good shot in a fight (with Chimaev),” de Ridder said to Submission Radio.

Although Chimaev is undefeated, de Ridder believes he’d be able to have success against him. He believes fighters get overwhelmed by his aggression and grappling. But Reinier de Ridder is confident he would be able to deal with it and have success.

Reinier de Ridder believes it’d be a cool fight against Khamzat Chimaev

“I think what makes him special is the aggression that he comes out with,” de Ridder said of Khamzat Chimaev. “I think a lot of people get overwhelmed by how explosive he comes out and how hard he chases the back right away. That’s mostly what makes him so dangerous. We’ve seen a lot from him already, we’ve seen a lot of fights already from him, we’ve seen him go the distance a couple of times.

“We trained, it has been a long time ago. Maybe four, five years ago,” de Ridder added. “He must have evolved a lot, and I have as well. I don’t know how much those sessions really matter. But it’s a cool fight. Two elite grapplers. And, I think after this fight, I have a good shot at securing that one pretty soon down the road.”

Reinier de Ridder is 20-2 as a pro and is ranked 13th at middleweight.