Reinier de Ridder joins American Top Team ahead of UFC light heavyweight move

Reinier de Ridder believes it's time for a change, and has done so by switching gyms to American Top Team, a direct rival of his former team, Kill Cliff FC. According to him, his old gym has changed for the worst, and as he gears up for his move up to light heavyweight, he won't take any chances.

Reinier de Ridder talks recent gym switch

With UFC Fight Night 285 just a week away, Reinier de Ridder is preparing for his light heavyweight clash with Roman Dolidze. The bout will be an attempt at reinvention by the Dutchman, who is currently on a two-fight losing streak after back-to-back losses to Caio Borralho at UFC 326, where he lost via unanimous decision, and Brendan Allen at UFC Fight Night 262, where he lost via fourth-round TKO. To end his current rough patch, de Ridder has moved to American Top Team, one of the best MMA gyms in the world, which he revealed in an interview with Full Mount Media (2:02):

"I did switch up my camp, so I've been at ATT this camp, which is a big change, and I've been able to work with a lot of high-level guys, which is cool. Coaches and training partners."

The change, he says, was necessary, as Kill Cliff FC, where he previously trained, is not the team it once was, with head coach Henri Hooft and ex-training partner Aung La Nsang, a ONE Championship legend, being more absent.

"Yeah, some stuff was just not good at Kill Cliff the last six months. Henri had some personal stuff and he had been out of the gym for a pretty long time, for a couple of months, and Aung La, my guy I like to work with a lot, Aung La Nsang, he opened his own gym. So, he hadn't been at Kill Cliff as much, and a lot of big guys left because the content of the classes was not that good. So, it was time to make a change, unfortunately, cause I really liked them there."

This isn't the first time that de Ridder has made a serious career change after a two-fight losing streak. When he was on a similar rough patch in ONE Championship, he left the promotion to sign with the UFC. Now, he is making a move to light heavyweight, where he last fought in 2024, when he TKO'd Magomedmurad Khasaev in round one at UAE Warriors 51.

New weight class for The Dutch Knight 🇳🇱 ⚔️ #UFCSacramento

🇬🇪 Roman Dolidze vs Reinier de Ridder 🇳🇱 pic.twitter.com/6At0dptyk6

— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) July 29, 2026

Before that, he had a brief reign as the ONE light heavyweight champion, and will hope to fight for 205-pound gold once again. However, to earn a crack at a title fight in the UFC, he must first get past Dolidze on Aug. 22.