By The Numbers: Reinier de Ridder vs. Gerald Meerschaert

Ultimate Fighting Championship matchmakers tend not to afford soft landings to promotional newcomers of Reinier de Ridder’s ilk.

“The Dutch Knight” will make his Octagon debut opposite onetime Resurrection Fighting Alliance champion Gerald Meerschaert in a UFC Vegas 100 middleweight showcase on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. De Ridder steps into the Octagon with an impressive 17-2 record in tow. The former two-division ONE Championship titleholder last saw action on July 27, when he buried Magomedmurad Khasaev with punches in the first round of their encounter at a UAE Warriors event. Meerschaert, meanwhile, has rattled off back-to-back victories, both of them finishes. The Kill Cliff Fight Club rep last competed at UFC on ESPN 62, where he turned away Edmen Shahbazyan with a second-round arm-triangle choke on Aug. 24.

As de Ridder and Meerschaert move ever closer to their closer to their looming showdown at 185 pounds, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:

34: Years of age for de Ridder, who was born in Breda, Netherlands, on Sept. 7, 1990.

4: De Ridder victories by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 23% of his career total (17). His list of victims: Khasaev, Gilberto Galvao, Marcus Plodek and Alexander Heinrich. De Ridder holds 11 other victories by submission (65%) and two more by decision (12%).

75: Seconds needed for de Ridder to put Fan Rong to sleep with a brabo choke at ONE “Hero’s Ascent” on Jan. 25, 2019. Nearly six years later, it remains his fastest finish to date.

11: Countries in which de Ridder has plied his mixed martial arts trade. In addition to a 1-0 mark in his native Netherlands, he has gone 5-0 in Germany, 4-0 in Singapore, 1-1 in the Philippines, 1-0 in Belgium, 1-0 in Switzerland, 1-0 in South Africa, 1-0 in China, 1-0 in Indonesia, 1-0 in the United Arab Emirates and 0-1 in Qatar.

.740: Cumulative winning percentage between the six men—Rong, Galvao, Aung La N Sang (twice), Vitaly Bigdash, Kiamrian Abbasov and Leandro Ataides—de Ridder defeated under the ONE Championship banner. They boast a combined record of 126-44-1.

36: Years of age for Meerschaert, who was born on Dec. 18, 1987 in Racine, Wisconsin.

29: Meerschaert wins by submission, accounting for 79% of his career total (37). His methods of choice: nine rear-naked chokes, seven guillotine chokes, five arm-triangle chokes, two triangle chokes, two armbars, one neck crank, one kimura, one anaconda choke and one face crank. Meerschaert owns six other wins by knockout or technical knockout (16%) and two more by decision (5%).

250,000: Dollars in post-fight bonuses banked by Meerschaert across his 21 appearances in the UFC. He has been awarded “Performance of the Night” five times.

97: Rounds started by Meerschaert as a professional mixed martial artist. He has involved the judges on seven different occasions and carries a 2-5 record in those bouts.

177: Combined victories between the 12 men—Shahbazyan, Bryan Barberena, Bruno Silva, Dustin Stoltzfus, Makhmud Muradov, Bartosz Fabinski, Deron Winn, Trevin Giles, Oskar Piechota, Eric Spicely, Ryan Janes and Joe Gigliotti—Meerschaert has beaten since he joined the UFC roster in 2016. They sport a cumulative .696 winning percentage at 177-77-1.