Kevin Holland and Reinier de Ridder meet Saturday in the UFC 311 main card opener at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California. Check out this brief overview of the matchup from MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom.
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Kevin Holland vs. Reinier de Ridder UFC 311 preview
Holland (26-12 MMA, 13-9 UFC) will look to start his 2025 campaign on the right foot by rebounding from a rib injury loss to Roman Dolidze at UFC 307 in October. In 2024, the Netherlands won one of three fights, earning a victory over Michal Oleksiejczuk at UFC 302. … De Ridder (18-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) is on a two-fight winning streak, including his successful UFC debut. In November, the former ONE champion submitted Gerald Meerschaert to his UFC run.
Kevin Holland vs Reinier de Ridder UFC 311 expert pick, prediction
Despite having a slew of action fights at bantamweight and lightweight locked into the prelims, the UFC matchmakers saw fit to open the paid portion of the card with a middleweight bout between Holland and de Ridder.
To be fair, Holland has headlined the promotion multiple times, while de Ridder has earned titles in outside organizations like ONE Championships.
Holland, who is officially 8-2-1 against southpaws at the UFC level (although it could be 7-3-1 if his fight with Gerald Meerschaert was judged correctly), should on paper have a solid lead in the area of the attack. .
But despite De Ridder’s lack of head movements that call for a tetherball-like spike, I can’t ignore Holland’s tendency to plunge the distance into unfavorable clinchs – especially at middleweight.
Add to that De Ridder’s dangerous submission game and I suspect we’ll see the Dutchman lock up a rear choke in round 2.
Kevin Holland vs. Reinier de Ridder UFC 311 odds
Although the oddsmakers opened the American as favorite, the public has pushed the Dutch fighter to favorite odds, with de Ridder -130 and Holland +106 via FanDuel.
Kevin Holland vs. Reinier de Ridder UFC 311 start time, how to watch
As the main card opener, Holland and de Ridder are expected to walk to the cage at approximately 10:10 PM ET. The fight will be streamed on ESPN+.
For more information on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s events hub for UFC 311.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Kevin Holland vs. Reinier de Ridder prediction, picks, start time for UFC 311