Reinier de Ridder’s last UFC outing didn’t go according to plan. He had stormed into the UFC in 2024. Then, he quickly rattled off wins over names like Kevin Holland, Bo Nickal, and Robert Whittaker, stacking a 4-fight win streak fast enough that people were already whispering about title shots.

Then came the underdog, Brendan Allen, in Vancouver. De Ridder started the fight well, got early control, and even threatened with his usual grappling. But by the later rounds, his engine seemingly stalled inside the Octagon. It got so bad that between the fourth and fifth, his corner threw in the towel. It wasn’t tactical, but it was protective.

Speaking recently to UFC on Eurosport, ‘The Dutch Knight’ didn’t hide from what went wrong, as he shared, “Yes, 100%. I already feel better then I felt in fight camp for Whittaker. Because even then…there were… I had difficulty getting through some training sessions. I struggled with recovery, and that’s very different now.”

When asked what the real lesson was, de Ridder put it plainly: “Yes, you just can’t (cut) five times a year… 5 times in 11 months, 5 weight cuts, train yourself to exhaustion, 2 times a day. It doesn’t work.” That schedule is brutal on paper. In practice, it can empty the tank before you even hit the cage. He knew that, too. “And I already knew this,” he admitted. “But I wanted it so badly.”

The Dutchman tried to fast-track a UFC title run by stacking camps, weight cuts, and two-a-day training sessions. The numbers add up to wear and tear. Five cuts in 11 months is extreme for any middleweight, especially one who leans on cardio-heavy grappling. That’s why by the time he reached the championship rounds with Allen, the writing was on the wall.

Reinier de Ridder later revealed he battled norovirus during fight week and broke his hand in Round 1. That matters for context, but it doesn’t fully explain the fade. The bigger takeaway is that his body had already been taxed for months. You could see it unfold in front of your eyes. The early rounds had his usual snap. The later rounds didn’t.

Still, it’s not a stretch to say that sometimes the most embarrassing losses are the ones that teach you how to survive the next run. Because now, ahead of his clash against Caio Borralho, ‘The Dutch Knight’ is making sure he doesn’t repeat the same mistake twice.

Reinier De Ridder reveals his methods to “improve” his cardio ahead of UFC 326 return

In a video uploaded to his YouTube channel back in January, Reinier de Ridder laid out how seriously he took the conditioning collapse. “We’re going to get a VO2 max test because my cardio is sh– ,” he said, with his trademark bluntness. He followed that up with blood tests to see what changed before and after the Brendan Allen fight and what he could actually fix.

As he explained, “You get a baseline, I got my bloodwork done, and see what I can do to improve this stuff. I’ve been looking at specific therapies to help me to get that red blood cell count up and to recover physically.”

VO2 max tests measure how much oxygen your body can take in under heavy strain. For a grappler who wants to grind in championship rounds, that metric matters. De Ridder also mentioned looking into targeted recovery methods to boost red blood cell count and speed up physical recovery. Just basic performance work, he admits he should’ve prioritized earlier.

He even joked that he might actually take a day off every now and again instead of training himself into the ground. That’s a small line, but it hints at a mindset shift. ‘The Dutch Knight’ is already booked against Caio Borralho at UFC 326 in March. That’s a tough stylistic test for someone coming off a cardio-related stoppage.

Still, in his own words, “I really want to prove that wasn’t me. I have so much more to show in the cage.” And if he’s right, that ‘embarrassing’ loss might end up being the silver lining that saves his UFC title aspirations!