TLDR
- Reinier de Ridder defeated Roman Dolidze via first-round TKO at 4:01 at UFC Sacramento
- De Ridder landed approximately 100 ground strikes after Dolidze pulled guard looking for leg locks
- The victory was de Ridder’s first in his UFC light heavyweight debut after two losses at middleweight
- De Ridder broke down in tears after the win, revealing he had been away from his children for eight weeks
- Dolidze suffered the first knockout loss of his career and his third consecutive defeat
Sources: mmamania.com | mmajunkie.usatoday.com | mmasucka.com
Reinier de Ridder returned to the win column with a dominant first-round TKO victory over Roman Dolidze at UFC Fight Night 285 on Saturday night in Sacramento, California. The win marked de Ridder’s successful debut at light heavyweight after suffering back-to-back losses at middleweight.
The fight ended at 4:01 of the first round when referee Frank Trigg stopped the contest. Dolidze had taken dozens of unanswered punches and showed no ability to defend himself.
De Ridder needed just 20 seconds to take Dolidze to the ground. The Georgian fighter pulled guard and immediately started looking for leg lock submissions.
“I knew he was going to go for the legs – he does that every time,” de Ridder said in his post-fight interview. “We prepared for this. I wanted to show some knees and kicks, but we’ll save that for next time.”
RDR with some GNP 💥
[ @ReinierdeRidder | #UFCSacramento is LIVE NOW on @ParamountPlus ] pic.twitter.com/ZnFPJmsf38
— UFC (@ufc) August 23, 2026
Dolidze’s Strategy Backfires
Dolidze remained focused on attacking leg submissions from his back for the first two minutes. De Ridder calmly defended the attempts and began landing ground strikes from top position.
Once the leg entanglement threat passed, de Ridder unleashed heavy punches to the side of Dolidze’s head. The Dutch fighter landed approximately 100 ground strikes during the one-sided beating.
Dolidze shifted to survival mode but could not escape. De Ridder worked to side control, then moved to full mount before taking Dolidze’s back.
Referee Trigg allowed the fight to continue for about 45 seconds as Dolidze covered up and blocked some punches. However, the Georgian offered no offense and continued absorbing punishment.
De Ridder landed more punches and elbows from back control before Trigg finally stopped the fight. The stoppage gave Dolidze the first knockout loss of his career and just his second finish overall.
Emotional Victory After Difficult Stretch
De Ridder broke down in tears immediately after the victory. The emotional reaction came after losing consecutive fights to Brendan Allen and Caio Borralho at middleweight.
“You lose a fight, it’s tough. If you lose two fights, it feels like the end of the world,” de Ridder told Michael Bisping in his octagon interview.
The Dutch fighter also revealed he had been away from his family for eight weeks during training camp. “I’ve been away from my kids for eight weeks. I just got to get home and hold my kids,” he said.
In a later interview, de Ridder described the difficult weight cut he endured before his last middleweight fight against Borralho. He called it the “worst week I’ve ever had,” which influenced his decision to move up to light heavyweight.
De Ridder was previously a 205-pound champion in ONE Championship before joining the UFC. He debuted at middleweight in the promotion but has now returned to his natural weight class.
The victory improves de Ridder’s record to 22-4 in mixed martial arts and 5-2 in the UFC. Dolidze falls to 15-5 overall and 9-5 in the UFC.
Dolidze had also lost two consecutive fights before this bout. He dropped decisions to Anthony Hernandez and Christian Leroy Duncan earlier in 2026.
Both fighters were making their promotional debuts at 205 pounds. De Ridder appeared larger and healthier at the higher weight, clipping Dolidze with a shifting hook early before securing the takedown.
