Did Sean Strickland steal expertise from Reinier de Ridder? Reinier de Ridder is strolling into UFC 326 with a smile on his face and some extent to show, and he is doing it on one of many largest phases the promotion has put collectively this 12 months. The cardboard will happen on March 7, 2026 at T-Cell Enviornment in Las Vegas and will likely be headlined by Max Holloway defending his BMF title in a light-weight rematch with Charles Oliveira. De Ridder, who has been chosen because the middleweight co-main, will face Caio Boralho in a match that’s billed as a “knee to the physique, grappling chaos.”
Reinier de Ridder accuses Sean Strickland of stealing physique shot secrets and techniques
UFC 326 is designed to be a showcase occasion. Whereas Holloway first captured the BMF belt with a walk-off knockout of Justin Gaethje at UFC 300 and later held it by defeating Dustin Poirier, Oliveira enters the struggle as a former light-weight champion nonetheless firmly established close to the highest of the rankings. Beneath that, the promotion is caught in a high-stakes middleweight showdown between de Ridder and fellow finisher Boralho, who has 5 knockouts and 4 submissions amongst his 17 wins.
De Ridder’s identification is constructed on submissions and stifling grapples, however he is additionally carving out a neat little model together with his knees to the physique. After Sean Strickland’s current victory over Anthony “Fluffy” Hernandez, the small print of the struggle have change into a sizzling subject of dialogue. The previous champion broke by means of the struggle within the third spherical with a tough knee to the center, then swarmed to earn the TKO victory. Hernandez apparently folded off the shot and retreated to the fence, the place Strickland pounced with punches till the referee intervened.
Seeing this, de Ridder had a joke prepared. Talking to Emiel Sardaryan on YouTube, the Dutchman claimed half the credit score for Blueprint, stating Hernandez’s repeated points with physique photographs and hinting that Strickland might have deleted a web page from his playbook.
“Yeah. That was undoubtedly the plan. He will get harm nearly each time. So Sean, it is okay to steal my method.”
From there, he calmly broke the match down, giving Strickland loads of credit score for his footwork and wrestling exchanges.
“I actually just like the struggle. I assumed Sean was nice. On the ft, Sean has a really fast jab and largely throws straight photographs. Fluffy throws spherical photographs, so I type of anticipated Sean to be sooner. Takedown defence I did not anticipate him to do that properly within the second. It was arduous for Fluffy to get near Sean in any respect. I believe Fluffy solely took one or two photographs and did not actually decide to the double. The end was very clear. It felt like Fluffy could not actually get began. ”
De Ridder got here into UFC 326 coming off a setback in opposition to Brendan Allen, with prolonged rounds exposing gaps in his protection, however his submission charge and talent to punish errors stay a problem for many within the division. Boralho, however, is the kind of opponent that may drive you to make changes. A well-rounded middleweight with a historical past of post-fight bonuses and his personal decision-making instincts. Put these parts collectively on the identical card as Holloway vs. Oliveira 2 on the BMF strap, and De Ridder’s physique knee joke all of a sudden doubles as a warning label for anybody sharing the cage with him at UFC 326.
