Reinier de Ridder hopes to avoid Robert Whittaker rematch ‘for now’

Reinier de Ridder has expressed a strong desire to avoid an immediate rematch with Robert Whittaker after both recently moved up to light heavyweight, citing the physical and mental toll of their previous meeting.

De Ridder eked out a narrow split decision over Whittaker at middleweight last year in a bout that tested the Dutch fighter far more than expected. He was particularly impressed—and challenged—by Whittaker's hand speed, especially the former UFC champion's sharp jab-cross combinations. Speaking at media day for UFC Sacramento on August 22, where de Ridder makes his light heavyweight debut against Roman Dolidze, he emphasized that the fight took everything out of him and forced him to dig deep just to secure the victory.

"I hope that they don't propose that for now," de Ridder said. "[Whittaker] is still so quick. In the fight we had, the thing that really amazed me was how quick he was with the 1-2 every time. That fight really took a lot out of me. I had to dig deep to win that fight. So, if I can avoid that for a while, I'll be really happy."

Both men moved up after struggles at 185 pounds. De Ridder lost to contenders Brendan Allen and Caio Borralho before committing to the weight-class jump, while Whittaker moved to 205 following defeats to Khamzat Chimaev and de Ridder, though he has since scored a stoppage win over Nikita Krylov to stabilize his standing at the new weight.