Reinder de Ridder wants to test Bo Nickal’s submission grappling pedigree.

The undefeated Penn State wrestling icon Nickal will take on the sternest test of his developing mixed martial arts career in May when he tackles the Dutch submission expert (and former ONE Championship middleweight and light heavyweight champion) Reiner de Ridder in what is a featured bout of the UFC’s first-ever event Des Moines, Iowa.

And Nickal, who has vowed to return to a more grappling-oriented approach following a dour decision win over Paul Craig which took place mostly on the feet in his last bout in November, will have his mixed martial arts grappling credentials sternly tested according to De Ridder who counts 13 submission wins in his 19 career victories.

“I think I have to make him wrestle,” De Ridder told MMA Fighting of the upcoming contest. “As we saw in the Paul Craig fight, I think he’s pretty scared of the jiu-jitsu on the floor. He’s pretty scared to get caught with something. So I think I need to make him wrestle.

“I need to get close, put the pressure on him, hit him a couple times, and I think he will definitely start shooting,” the Dutchman added.

“I think this fight is won or lost in the clinch. This is where the most of the fight is going to happen and most of the exchanges of the fight will happen. I’m really working on seeing if I can get him with some good knees, some good elbows. Throwing him, tripping him, getting to his back. That’s the plan.”

And furthermore, De Ridder says those in attendance for the UFC’s first Iowa event since 2000 deserve more than a muted stand-up fight between two of the sport’s foremost grapplers.

“Who wants to see us strike?” he noted. “We’re both decent strikers but come on, let’s have some fun. Like Demian Maia and Ben Askren in the first round. Nobody wants to see that sh*t.”