UFC Des Moines Card: De Ridder Vs. Nickal Odds, Picks And Predictions

Forbes

01-05-2025

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 16: Bo Nickal of the United States of America reacts after his ... More unanimous decision victory against Paul Craig of Scotland in a middleweight fight during the UFC 309 event at Madison Square Garden on November 16, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
The UFC is in Des Moines, Iowa, for this week's UFC Fight Night card. In the main event of the UFC Des Moines fight card, former interim UFC bantamweight title challenger Cory Sandhagen faces ex-UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo in a 135-pound matchup. In the high-stakes co-main event, Reiner de Ridder faces Bo Nickal in a middleweight contest that will leave one fighter with their first loss under the UFC banner. Below, we look at betting odds, line movement, picks, and predictions for the De Ridder vs. Nickal matchup.
Inglewood, CA - January 18: Reinier de Ridder (blue) celebrates his victory over Kevin Holland (red) ... More during their bout at UFC 311 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California on Saturday, January 18, 2024. de Ridder won the fight by first round submission. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Reinier de Ridder (19-2) joined the UFC in 2024. De Ridder was a two-division champion with ONE, claiming titles in the middleweight and light heavyweight weight classes.
A talented grappler with 11 career submission victories before inking his UFC deal, De Ridder is 2-0 with the UFC, picking up submission wins over Gerald Meerschaert and Kevin Holland.
De Ridder's victory over Holland put him in the official UFC middleweight rankings, where he sits in the No. 13 spot.
I wrote the following about De Ridder after his win over Holland, "Reinier de Ridder looked excellent in his second UFC fight. The former two-division ONE champion won in his UFC debut over Gerald Meerschaert in November, but he looked a bit reserved and willing to accept positions as they came. He did not resemble that fighter at all at UFC 311, dominating Kevin Holland.
'De Ridder scored a takedown early in the first round and then used his striking and grappling skills to control Holland, opening a cut on Holland before securing a rear-naked choke submission.'
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 16: Bo Nickal of the United States of America punches Paul Craig of ... More Scotland in a middleweight fight during the UFC 309 event at Madison Square Garden on November 16, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
Bo Nickal (7-0) joined the UFC in 2023 after one fight on an iKON FC card and two bouts on the Dana White Contender Series. Nickal won those contests by stoppage in the first round (two submissions, one KO). None of the matchups went past 62 seconds of the first round.
Since his debut with the promotion in March 2023, Nickal has compiled a 4-0 UFC record with two submissions, one knockout and one decision. In his most recent outing, Nickal went the three-round distance with Paul Craig on the pay-per-view portion of the UFC 309 fight card.
Known for his wrestling, Nickal was a three-time NCAA champion under Cael Sanderson at Penn State, did not attempt a single takedown against Craig. Instead, he focused on developing his striking game in that matchup.
I wrote the following after that win:
Bo Nickal went 15 minutes for the first time in his MMA career against Paul Craig at UFC 309. While Nickal looked decent against Craig, the fight showed that he needs some more seasoning before he's ready to compete against the elite of the UFC's middleweight division.
Nickal needs to work on his striking and distance management. Craig, who is not an elite striker, did a decent job in keeping Nickal at distance, but Nickal was able to land with power, by throwing some somewhat sloppy strikes. Nickal came into UFC 309 with a lot of hype behind him. I don't think that hype disappears after UFC 309, but Nickal's performance showed he has a lot of work to do.
Nickal did not break into the UFC middleweight rankings with his victory over Craig.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 16: (R-L) Bo Nickal of the United States of America fights Paul Craig ... More of Scotland in a middleweight fight during the UFC 309 event at Madison Square Garden on November 16, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC)
Nickal opened as a -250 betting favorite over De Ridder, who was a +210 betting underdog when odds were first released for this matchup. Today, according to BetOnline, Nickal is a -330 favorite over the +270 De Ridder.
Age: 34
Height: 6' 4'
Reach: 78'
Stance: Southpaw
Age: 29
Height: 6' 1'
Reach: 76'
Stance: Southpaw
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 16: (R-L) Bo Nickal of the United States of America punches Paul Craig ... More of Scotland in a middleweight fight during the UFC 309 event at Madison Square Garden on November 16, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by)
Neither of these fighters are known for their striking, but Nickal has at least made an effort to improve that aspect of his MMA game, and that could be a difference maker in this matchup. While De Ridder will probably have a grappling advantage over Nickal if he can put the NCAA wrestler on the mat, getting someone like Nickal to the ground is going to be an enormous problem for De Ridder.
Nickal and his team likely know that De Ridder is not a good striker, and their goal will be to keep the fight standing. The betting pick is for Nickal to beat De Ridder by knockout.
Saturday, May 3
Prelims: 7:00 p.m. ET
Main Card: 10:00 p.m. ET
Wells Fargo Center in Des Moines, IA
Prelims: ESPN+
Main Card: ESPN2
Cory Sandhagen vs. Deiveson Figueiredo
Reinier de Ridder vs. Bo Nickal
Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Daniel Rodriguez
Montel Jackson vs. Daniel Marcos
Cameron Smotherman vs. Serhiy Sidey
Jeremy Stephens vs. Mason Jones
Yana Santos vs. Miesha Tate
Ryan Loder vs. Azamat Bekoev
Marina Rodriguez vs. Gillian Robertson
Gaston Bolaños vs. Quang Le
Thomas Petersen vs. Don'Tale Mayes
Juliana Miller vs. Ivana Petrović
We will have more on the UFC Des Moines fight card as fight night approaches.