Reinier de Ridder explains what happened when he finished Bo Nickal at UFC Des Moines

Reinier de Ridder has explained what he felt in the midst of his finishing sequence against Bo Nickal at UFC Des Moines.

On Saturday night, Reinier de Ridder really announced himself to the mixed martial arts world. While he’d already picked up two wins in the Ultimate Fighting Championship prior to the Bo Nickal fight, this was the biggest name he’d faced by far. A lot of people were counting him out as a result of the hype surrounding Nickal but in the end, the Dutchman was able to get the job done in convincing fashion.

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In addition to controlling the grappling exchanges, he was also able to get the better of Nickal on the fight. That led him down the path of the finish, which came at the end of a string of nasty knees to the body. Now, he’ll be looking ahead to the future, as he continues his push to become middleweight champion – just a few years on from becoming a two-weight world champion in ONE Championship.

In his post-fight media obligations, de Ridder opened up on how the finish came about.

de Ridder talks through Nickal finish

“I felt like every time I hit him to the body, I felt him dropping his hands a little bit, I felt him moving to his right like he was hurt a little bit,” de Ridder said. “I saw he was hurt (in the second round). I took a step back. I stepped back in; he hit me with a one-two (punch). I was like, ‘that’s not smart’ and then I hit him again to the body, and I got him out of there and I felt he was on his way out already.”

Quotes via MMA Junkie

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