UFC Sacramento video: Reinier de Ridder thrashes Roman Dolidze

Reinier de Ridder made an emphatic statement in his UFC debut at light heavyweight and did to Roman Dolidze what no one's ever done.

De Ridder (22-4 MMA, 5-2 UFC) got the stoppage with 59 seconds left in the opening round when referee Frank Trigg shut things down after Dolidze (15-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC) took dozens and dozens of unanswered punches in the 205-pound featured fight at UFC Fight Night 285 at Golden1 Center in Sacramento, Calif.

"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."

A big win in his new weight class 🤩@ReinierdeRidder makes the most of his move to light heavyweight at #UFCSacramento!

[ LIVE NOW on @ParamountPlus ] pic.twitter.com/k3dfVyRgPj

Instinto finalizador de Reinier de Ridder 🚨

Termina la pelea con lluvia de golpes en el primer round 🙌🏻#UFCSacramento | Ver en vivo por @PPlusDeportespic.twitter.com/pLbXykiK3r

Both de Ridder and Dolidze made their promotional debuts at 205. De Ridder was a 205-pound champion for ONE Championship prior to his move to the UFC, where he debuted at middleweight. A two-fight skid at 185 had him return to light heavyweight, though, and he made things look easy against Dolidze – who never had been finished by knockout, and had been stopped just once previously

de Ridder needed just 20 seconds to take Dolidze down, and once on the canvas he went to work looking for submissions, then trading back to some light ground-and-pound. After two minutes, they scrambled and de Ridder landed punch after punch while referee Frank Trigg warned Dolidze to get out of there. He did nothing but cover up for a full 45 seconds, but Trigg let him survive, perhaps thanks to Dolidze blocking or partially blocking many of the punches.

But de Ridder worked his way to side control after he gave up on the punches, then got to full mount and went back to work with punches and elbows with 75 seconds left. Dolidze had virtually nothing to offer, and de Ridder had a stellar win in his UFC debut at light heavyweight.

• Reinier de Ridder def. Roman Dolidze via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:01
• MarQuel Mederos def. Mason Jones via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 2:07
• Carli Judice def. Jeisla Chaves via TKO (kick, punches) – Round 1, 1:39
• Anthony Wint def. Terrance Chatman via technical submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 1, 4:29
• Jamall Emmers def. Lerryan Douglas via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 3:38
• Shamil Gaziev def. Kennedy Nzechukwu via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 1:20
• Chris Padilla def. Nasrat Haqparast via technical submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 3, 4:59
• Marcio Barbosa def. Ryan Kuse via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 2:47
• Stan Dorsainvil def. Gauge Young via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Jackson McVey def. Wes Schultz via TKO (knee, punches) – Round 1, 4:13
• Shanelle Dyer def. Elise Reed via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 1:42

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC Sacramento video: Reinier de Ridder thrashes Roman Dolidze