Reinier de Ridder is giving Rolly Romero a run for his money for the weekend’s biggest combat sports upset.
The former two-division ONE Championship titleholder shocked Bo Nickal on Saturday night, knocking out the MMA super-prospect with a barrage of second-round strikes in UFC Des Moines’ middleweight co-main event at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa.
After a back-and-forth opening round contested mostly between mat scrambles, de Ridder (20-2) trapped Nickal (7-1) against the fence to open the second frame and began pummeling him with short punches to the head and body. De Ridder continued to apply pressure upon the break, ultimately sending Nickal melting to the canvas with a big knee to the midsection and forcing the stoppage at the 1:53 mark of the round.
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Nickal, 29, has long been considered one of the most talented prospects in MMA. A decorated amateur wrestler who was a three-time NCAA Division I national champion, Nickal barnstormed to a perfect 6-0 run to start his career under the UFC umbrella, including two early bouts on the promotion’s Contender Series. Nickal told Uncrowned that he specifically asked to fight de Ridder and hoped the matchup would be a springboard to a ranking in the UFC middleweight division.
Instead, de Ridder toppled Nickal from the ranks of the unbeaten and scored one of the biggest upsets thus far of the MMA calendar. The 34-year-old “Dutch Knight” is now 3-0 in the UFC following similar finishes of Gerald Meerschaert and Kevin Holland.
Get complete UFC Des Moines results, highlights and Uncrowned’s live blog of the main card.
