Brutal weight cut against Borralho convinced De Ridder to abandon UFC middleweight

Reinier de Ridder made up his mind to leave UFC middleweight not after his lopsided unanimous decision loss to Caio Borralho in March, but during the weight cut that preceded it — describing that fight week as the worst he has ever experienced in his career.

The Dutch fighter was already in a difficult position heading into the Borralho bout, having been stopped by Brendan Allen in his previous outing after visibly gassing out, forcing a corner stoppage before the final round. He has now disclosed that the weight cut for the Borralho fight was even more punishing than the one that preceded the Allen defeat in Vancouver.

“It was before the fight, during the weight cut I said, ‘This is the last time. I’m never gonna do this again,’” de Ridder told Full Send MMA. “That week was the worst fight week I’ve ever had. Everything went wrong. That fight week was the worst week I’ve ever had… Even worse than the Vancouver week. Nothing medical stuff, wasn’t a hospital, I don’t want to make up any excuses, but it wasn’t good.”

The former two-division One Championship titleholder confirmed he had already committed to moving up to light heavyweight by the time he stepped into the cage against Borralho, meaning the 185-pound contest was effectively a farewell to the division regardless of the result.

His transition to 205 pounds has so far delivered the fresh start he was looking for. De Ridder made his light heavyweight debut against Roman Dolidze at UFC Sacramento, earning a first-round stoppage to end a two-fight losing streak and signal his intent in the new weight class.