After conquering ONE Championship’s 185lbs and 205lbs divisions, Reinier De Ridder has stepped into the UFC to showcase his fighting skills. The way he submitted Gerald Meerschaert with an arm triangle in his promotional debut truly set the tone for things to come. Needless to say, de Ridder established himself as one of the strongest grapplers in the Octagon with his maiden outing in 2024. 

But where does he come from? That’s a question that the entire fighting community has been asking around. Today, let’s take a look at ‘The Dutch Knight’s personal life and learn all there is to know about the former ONE double champ. 

What is Reinier De Ridder’s ethnicity and nationality?

Just like his nickname ‘The Dutch Knight’ reflects, de Ridder considers himself to be of Dutch origins. He was born and brought up in Tilburg, Netherlands. Talking to ONE FC back in 2020, De Ridder said, “I’m a Dutch-made man. I had a really nice childhood. I grew up in a small place just outside Tilburg and, like a lot of Dutch cities, there were a lot of good possibilities.” 

‘The Dutch Knight’ also revealed that he didn’t have a classic rags to riches kind of story. Instead, he had a pretty decent time growing up. He revealed, “I didn’t have a rough childhood and I never had to defend myself on the streets. It was just a good sport to do. It was a hobby, a good way to train, and something I always really enjoyed. It never got really far. I won some regional titles in judo, but nothing major. Everything just started to click with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and mixed martial arts later in life.”

Fighting out of Breda, Netherlands, the Dutch mixed martial artist is an elite grappler. He has taken up skills from Judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and even got a black belt in BJJ. No wonder he dominated the cage in ONE FC. The only blemishes on his career happen to be the twin title losses to Anatoly Malykhin in December 2022 and March 2024 respectively. The Dutchman now looks to conquer the Octagon next.

But before we anticipate his matchup in the Octagon, we still need to know a bit about his early life. Let’s find out all about De Ridder’s family and how he got himself into the realm of combat sports, shall we?

More about Reinier De Ridder’s background and parents

While their names are not known to the public, it’s well known that De Ridder’s father was a taxi driver, while his mother was a civil servant. Growing up in Tilburg created a lot of opportunities for ‘The Dutch Knight’. Even though he was academically strong, he didn’t like sitting and studying at school. Instead, his mind and energy were focused on athletics. He admitted that he would usually go out to play football in the fields instead of studying. 

That was the reason why he began practicing judo at the age of 5. Soon, he traversed the land of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and found it to be life-changing. After all, he won medals at the European BJJ Championship in 2016 and 2017. With 2 silver medals on his neck, De Ridder found his way to ONE Championship and the rest is history.

Now, de Ridder is set to lock horns with Kevin Holland at UFC 311. With 18 wins and just 2 defeats in his professional MMA record, ‘The Dutch Knight’ is indeed out for a win. This will be his second fight in the UFC, and if he wins, he could get himself a fight against a ranked opponent.

What do you think of De Ridder’s story bringing him into the fighting realm? Do you think he can dominate the Octagon as well? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.