Riddell chases his 15 minutes of fame

UFC lightweight contender Brad Riddell is potentially only 15 minutes, or less, away from putting one of the most frustrating periods of his hugely promising career behind him.

Out of the UFC Octagon for eight and a half months, the Covid-19 pandemic has not been kind to the City Kickboxing fighter who will clash with Drew Dober in Arizona tomorrow. Riddell (9-1) and Dober (23-10-0) will be the feature preliminary bout on the UFC 263 card.

Riddell is taking a more philosophical approach now but was left gutted by his previous trip to the US, back in March, ending in his bout against the ranked Gregor Gillespie being pulled just hours before the pair were due to step into the octagon at UFC Vegas 22.

Gillespie, who at the time was ranked 15th in the division, and Riddell were through the weighin process and ready to fight when it was determined the Kiwi – through no fault of his own – had been exposed to others who had tested positive to Covid-19.

Riddell never contracted the virus but under the UFC’s Covid-19 protocols, the fight was scrapped.

He could have stayed on and fought Gillespie in a postponed bout but without a voucher for New Zealand’s MIQ system, the new father would have been away from home for a further two months until a bed became available, something he wasn’t keen on.

Riddell said the situation was tough, especially given he still needed to go through the 14-day managed isolation on his return, despite not getting to fight but said he was far from the first UFC fighter to miss out on a fight at late notice due to Covid-19 protocols.

‘‘That experience sucked,’’ he told media this week.

Brad Riddell

Early last month, Gillespie fought Carlos Diego Ferreira, securing a second-round TKO victory to land a top 10 ranking in a performance that impressed Riddell.

Now he has to overcome Dober – a specialist striker like Riddell – just to get back to a fight with Gillespie, a contest the Christchurch-born and raised fighter wants next.

Coming off the longest layoff of his career, the 29-year-old’s master plan looks like a victory over Dober, fighting Gillespie in September and if he can get by him, fight another ranked opponent in December.

Riddell, who has never been ranked in the top 15 but could find himself on the edge of it with a victory over Dober, has plans to rise to the top of the hugely competitive lightweight division and said it is inspiring to be around Adesanya and the rest of the close-knit City Kickboxing team.

‘‘The biggest thing is we’re a tiny country and seeing Israel become who he has become, that stuff kind of seems like a fairytale to a lot of people in New Zealand,’’ Riddell said.

Following the retirements of champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, Paul Felder and Charles Oliveira winning the lightweight belt over Michael Chandler, the division has seen a changing of the guard but Riddell believes it remains deep.

‘‘The good thing is you get to the top and you’re legitimately the best in the world.

‘‘At the moment, the UFC has the strongest lightweight division hands down, so that’s appealing . . . you get that belt, you own it, you can claim you’re the best in the world.’’

Dober, coming off a third-round submission loss to Islam Makhachev at UFC 259, is a clear betting favourite after three spectacular finishes in his previous three fights.

‘‘You get that belt, you own it, you can claim you’re the best in the world.’’