LAS VEGAS – Reinier de Ridder is seeking a memorable introduction to the octagon Saturday against Gerald Meerschaert at UFC Fight Night 247 . Former two-division ONE Championship titleholder de Ridder (17-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) makes his anticipated entry to promotion when he takes on all-time middleweight finishes and submissions record holder Meerschaert (37-17 MMA, 12-9 UFC) at the UFC Apex ( ESPN+ ). It’s been a longtime dream of de Ridder to fight in the octagon , and he thinks matchmakers giving him an opponent like Meerschaert right off the bat shows he is being set up to make some noise. “Finally, after all these years of talking about the top guys, to finally be close to getting them is very cool,” de Ridder told MMA Junkie at Wednesday’s UFC Fight Night 247 media day. “The most important this is Gerald first. It’s a very cool matchup.
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