Tag: Reinier de ridder

Anatoly Malykhin becomes three-division world champion with TKO finish of Reinier de Ridder – ONE 166 Highlights

Anatoly MalykhinRussian juggernaut Anatoly Malykhin made MMA history, becoming the first fighter to hold world championships in three different divisions…

Anatoly Malykhin

Russian juggernaut Anatoly Malykhin made MMA history, becoming the first fighter to hold world championships in three different divisions simultaneously.

Already holding both the ONE light heavyweight and heavyweight titles, ‘Sladkiy’ returned to the Circle at ONE 166 in Qatar for a main event showdown with middleweight MMA champion Reinier de Ridder. After succumbing to a first-round KO in their first meeting in December 2022, ‘The Dutch Knight’ fared much better in the early going, using his clinch work to stop Malykhin’s frequent onslaughts.

However, de Ridder’s defense-heavy style couldn’t hold up to the continued attacks, particularly as Anatoly Malykhin began to viciously attack his opponent’s body in the second round.

Coming out for round three, Reinier de Ridder quickly shot in for a desperation takedown attempt which Malykhin easily defended. Ending up on top, ‘Sladkiy’ landed some ground-and-pound strikes, including a couple of well-placed knees before RDR could muster the energy to roll through to his back. Recognizing the impeccable ground game of the Dutchman, Malykin quickly disengaged and got back to his feet.

De Ridder, on the other hand, was exhausted. So much so that he couldn’t muster the energy necessary to stand up and continue, forcing referee Herb Dean to call for the stoppage.

Official Result: Anatoly Malykhin def. Reinier de Ridder via TKO (ground and pound) at 1:16 of Round 3 to win the ONE middleweight MMA world championship

With the victory, Anatoly Malykhin maintained his undefeated record, moving to 14-0. He also kept his 100% finish rate intact and became MMA’s first-ever three-sport world champion.

Check Out Highlights From Anatoly Malykhin vs. Reinier de Ridder at ONE 166:

Reinier de Ridder Scores First Round Inverted Triangle Submission Over Vitaly Bigdash – ONE 159 Highlights

Reinier de RidderReinier de Ridder earned his 16th straight victory in the main event of ONE 159 on Friday to remain the promotion’s two-division world champion. To close the show, ‘The Dutch Knight’ took on former middleweight world titleholder Vitaly Bigdash. The opening moments of the fight had fans on the edge of their seats. ‘The Dutch […]

Reinier de Ridder

Reinier de Ridder earned his 16th straight victory in the main event of ONE 159 on Friday to remain the promotion’s two-division world champion. To close the show, ‘The Dutch Knight’ took on former middleweight world titleholder Vitaly Bigdash.

The opening moments of the fight had fans on the edge of their seats. ‘The Dutch Knight’ immediately took the center of the ONE Circle and began stalking Bigdash. 20 seconds into the fight, De Ridder initiated a clinch against the fence but exposed his neck in the process. Bigdash immediately sunk his arm in for a guillotine choke. Bigdash went all in, pulling guard and tightening his grip.

De Ridder’s face was noticeably changing colors, but the Dutchman was far from giving up. After 40 seconds, ‘The Dutch Knight’ was able to pull away from the attempted choke. From there, it was all De Ridder who postured up, looking to punish Bigdash before making his move. Dropping back down into Bigdash’s half-guard, De Ridder appeared to attempt a kimura. This caused Bigdash to scramble out of danger and momentarily reverse position.

Unfortunately for the Russian challenger, he left his head and arm wide open for an inverted triangle. Seeing the opportunity, Reinier de Ridder locked in the position. Ten seconds later, Bigdash was unconscious, and ‘The Dutch Knight’ was still ONE Championship‘s undefeated two-sport world titleholder.

Reinier de Ridder is Ready for a Third World Championship

Earning a $50,000 bonus for his ONE 159 main event performance, De Ridder was nothing short of direct when asked what he wants to do next in his post-fight interview with Mitch Chilson.

“I’m done asking Mitch,” said De Ridder. “You know what’s next.”

When Chilson translated that as ‘The Dutch Knight’ wanting to go for the heavyweight crown, he asked the Dutchman if he’d rather face reigning ONE heavyweight champion Arjan Bhullar or the current interim heavyweight titleholder Anatoly Malykhin.

“I want them both in the same night,” De Ridder said.

While no official date has been announced, Arjan Bhullar and Anatoly Malykhin are slated to face one another in a heavyweight title unification bout. Given his utter dominance, it would be hard to imagine that ONE denies ‘The Dutch Knight’ of going for a historic third world championship.

Undefeated 2-Division Champion Reinier de Ridder Targeting A Third Belt Before Fighting Israel Adesanya

reinier de ridder, Israel AdesanyaDutch fighter Reinier de Ridder is set on getting a third belt before competing with Israel Adesanya. Two-division ONE Championship king Ridder scored a major upset against former two-title holder Aung La Nsang to secure the middleweight strap in October 2020 at ONE: Inside the Matrix. Considering how big of a shock the result was, […]

reinier de ridder, Israel Adesanya

Dutch fighter Reinier de Ridder is set on getting a third belt before competing with Israel Adesanya.

Two-division ONE Championship king Ridder scored a major upset against former two-title holder Aung La Nsang to secure the middleweight strap in October 2020 at ONE: Inside the Matrix.

Considering how big of a shock the result was, some alleged the win to be a fluke. De Ridder would prove the doubters wrong when he stepped in on short notice to take on La Nsang at light heavyweight and defeated “The Burmese Python” one more time at ONE on TNT 4 in April 2021.

Reinier de Ridder eyeing a move up to heavyweight to get the third belt

De Ridder is set to defend his middleweight strap against Vitaly Bigdash at ONE 159 this Friday. Ahead of his upcoming bout, “The Dutch Knight” talked to talkSPORT about his plans next.

“I’ve been calling for it for a couple of fights now, but heavyweight is there. I’ve beat the welterweight champ. I’ve beat the middleweight champ. I’ve beat the light-heavyweight champ, so I think it’s time,” de Ridder said.

Although he makes a solid case for going up to heavyweight and challenging the reigning champion Arjan Bhullar, he’s not sure if he’ll get the chance as Bhullar eyes a move down to compete against him.

“Is ONE [Championship] interested? I’m not really sure right now. Arjan [Bhullar] is not because he’s been talking about coming back down the light-heavyweight, which is also fine to me. I just wanna know that I can beat everybody and I just wanna show everybody,” De Ridder said. (Transcribed by Jordan Ellis/talkSPORT).

De Ridder wants to fight Israel Adesanya

If De Ridder is able to prove his mettle in the Asian promotion up to his satisfaction, he will then target a move over to the UFC in hopes of a fight with Israel Adesanya. He talked about Adesanya’s lackluster performance in his last title defense against Jared Cannonier at UFC 276.

“I think he’s a bit too distracted, man. I think he’s too focused on everything around fighting and not fighting itself. It’s about the walkout. It’s about the social media stuff. It’s about the metrosexuality [laughs] – the painted fingernails,” de Ridder said.

“It’s all show now, fighting is not the primary thing. I think he should get back to his roots, put his phone away, put the laptop away and start training again.”

De Ridder believes he has what it takes to hand Adesanya his first defeat at 185 lb in the sport.

“I think he’s very, very vulnerable in the open space. His takedown defence against the fence is alright but in the open space it’s just not there,” de Ridder said.

“It’s not like, he does have power, but he doesn’t have one-shot knockout power, to be honest. You don’t need to be as cautious as most people are against him. You can eat a couple of shots before taking him down.

“I think it’s pretty possible. It’s something that might happen sooner rather than later.”

Would you like to see Reinier de Ridder fight Israel Adesanya?

Reinier De Ridder Believes He Could Beat Israel Adesanya And Believes His Style Matches Up Well Against Him

Reinier De RidderReinier De Ridder believes that his style matches up well against the current UFC middleweight champ Israel Adesanya.  De Ridder is the current One Championship Middleweight and light heavyweight champion. He is also training with current Bellator middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi. De Ridder is getting a fantastic gauge of much of an elite fighter he […]

Reinier De Ridder

Reinier De Ridder believes that his style matches up well against the current UFC middleweight champ Israel Adesanya. 

De Ridder is the current One Championship Middleweight and light heavyweight champion. He is also training with current Bellator middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi. De Ridder is getting a fantastic gauge of much of an elite fighter he truly is. 

He is currently undefeated inside the octagon and holds a record of 15-0. His most recent fight was against Kiamrian Abbasov this past February, when he submitted him in the third round. He has been eyeing up a matchup with Adesanya for a little while now.

Reinier De Ridder believes that his style is a mismatch for Adesanya, and believes he could submit him easily. 

“By training with him (Mousasi), I know my level,” de Ridder told MMA Junkie Radio. “I know I can hang with the best of them. If I look at like Israel Adesanya, the way he moves, his style, it’s like tailor-made for me. That guy is the easiest fight for me at middleweight around at the top. The way he moves, he’s so easy to be taken down in the open space. His wrestling defense against the wall is amazing. He gets up well, he defends all right on the floor, but I think I can choke that guy out easily.” (Transcribed by MMAJunkie)

De Ridder as no intentions of leaving the organization any time soon. He believes that the fight could be very lucrative for both him and Adesanya and wouldn’t rule it out.

“We have a small opportunity to make good money to support our families, to invest in the future, so the more competition there is, the better,” de Ridder said. “Now there’s Bellator, there’s UFC, there’s ONE, there’s PFL. All good organizations where there’s money on the table, so if I go to free agency soon then I’ll be interested in talking to everyone, but I’m very happy with what ONE is doing, with what they’re offering me, so we’ll see.” 

Do you think De Ridder has a chance against Adesanya in a bout?

EXCLUSIVE | Arjan Bhullar Prefers To Fight Reinier De Ridder At Light-Heavyweight

Arjan BhullarONE Championship’s heavyweight titleholder, Arjan Bhullar is the open to the idea of moving down in weight for a fight with the current light-heavyweight and middleweight champion, Reinier De Ridder. De Ridder recently expressed his desire to move up to heavyweight and dethrone Bhullar to become a three-weight world champion. The first fighter of Indian […]

Arjan Bhullar

ONE Championship’s heavyweight titleholder, Arjan Bhullar is the open to the idea of moving down in weight for a fight with the current light-heavyweight and middleweight champion, Reinier De Ridder.

De Ridder recently expressed his desire to move up to heavyweight and dethrone Bhullar to become a three-weight world champion.

The first fighter of Indian descent to ever win an MMA world title has since responded to the notion of a fight with De Ridder during an interview with LowKickMMA’s Keelin McNamara.

“First of all, I call the shots on that on the side. He knows that the company knows that.” Bhullar said.  “So, you know, he’s been mentioning my name to try to get some of that shine for sure and I don’t like giving it to people cause I never did that on my way up, so earn your way. Don’t start to mention my name in interviews and all that. You’re not gonna get a crack at me that way. I call the shots and maybe we do it at light heavyweight. Why would I give him a chance to come up?

“I’m the A-side. If that’s (a move to light-heavyweight) what we decide to do, we will do that. If we decide to do heavyweight, we will do that. It’s whatever we want, but getting another belt at a different weight to something that interests me. That intrigues me. It builds on my legacy, rather than just defending my belt.”

Despite being open to the fight Bhullar thinks De Ridder needs to make some title defences before it can actually happen.

“He’s got to defend. That’s the main thing .” Bhullar said. “Again, you want to be special? You want to stand out for me?  Make a name for yourself, defend your titles and get some momentum and we’ll make it work.”

Do you want to see Arjan Bhullar vs. Reinier De Ridder at light-heavyweight?

EXCLUSIVE: Reinier De Ridder Talks Title Shot And Bringing ONE To Holland

ONE Championship middleweight Reinier De Ridder will finally get his shot at the title this October, when he takes on defending champion Aung La N Sang at ONE: Inside The Matrix. The undefeated Dutchman has begun training for the clash and is not leaving anything to chance as he prepares himself for the biggest fight […]

ONE Championship middleweight Reinier De Ridder will finally get his shot at the title this October, when he takes on defending champion Aung La N Sang at ONE: Inside The Matrix. The undefeated Dutchman has begun training for the clash and is not leaving anything to chance as he prepares himself for the biggest fight of his career.

“It’s different. It’s definitely different; it feels like I am letting the animal out again,” de Ridder said, speaking to LowkickMMA about his preparation.

“In training, I can really let go now. I can really let everything out. In fighting, it’s a weird balance between being just a normal guy, with your family and living and loving and then the side of you that has to come out and perform in the gym, and especially in the cage, it’s a crazy balance. I need a fight lined up to let the animal come out, to give everything to go 100 percent to let that side of my personality come out.”

The thirty-year-old is well aware of what Aung La will bring to the table when the two meet on Fri. October 30,in Singapore. The Myanmar fighter is currently living in Florida, training at Sanford MMA alongside UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. De Ridder knows he will be facing a fighter who will be well-drilled and ready come fight night, but he is not expecting to see anything radically different from his opponent.

” I think he is going to be the same guy. At our age at our level at the game, you’re not going to change majorly. I think he’s going to be fit like he always is, and I think he is going to punch and kick very hard,” de Ridder said.

” He’s a great fighter, and he’s very strong, and he’s very special, but the technique and way he moves is not the most special. It’s not very different from anyone else, and me being from Holland, being from a kickboxing city, it’s very easy to get guys like him in the gym.”

One of the aces that de Ridder has is his sparring partner, Bellator’s Gegard Mousasi, who is one of the sports top strikers.

” My main guy is always Gegard Mousasi. There is no striker like Gegard. There is nobody that can match up with him. He’s so fast; he’s so technical, he’s so precise,” de Ridder exclaimed.

If he gets the victory over his opponent, de Ridder expects it to be only the first chapter in his rivalry with Aung La, who also holds the ONE light heavyweight crown.

“One thing is for sure. I am going to have to fight Aung La again. That happens at middle or light heavy that is fine with me, but I would really like it if we could arrange for it to happen in Holland,” he exclaimed.

” ONE has been talking about it, this year and the end of last year they talked about it, that, that’s the plan. We have a lot of Dutch kickboxers in ONE right now. We have Regian Eersel, and [Ilias] Ennahachi, and both are champions. We have a lot of top-level guys who are not yet the champion. So I think they could put a great Dutch card together. So that’s the hope, that would be amazing.”

If de Ridder can get the job done, this October, then a ONE Championship card in Holland would become that much more of a possibility.

Check out the full interview below.